Are you a local food enthusiast, grower or retailer in the Central or Southside region of Virginia? Are you interested in establishing an organization to support and enhance the growing demand for local foods?

If so, Old Dominion Resource Conservation & Development Council, Virginia Cooperative Extension and Prince Edward County invite you to attend a meeting to share ideas for establishing a Buy Fresh, Buy Local Chapter to serve the Central and Southside region. The meeting will be held Thursday, Jan. 19, from 6:30 to 8 p.m. at the Southside Virginia Community College Workforce Development Center, located on the John H. Daniel Campus at 200 Daniel Road, Keysville. A program flyer is available at the Prince Edward County Extension website: http://offices.ext.vt.edu/prince-edward/.

If a local food producer, distributor, retailer, purchaser, or consumer in any of the following eleven counties: Appomattox, Buckingham, Cumberland, Amelia, Nottoway, Lunenburg, Charlotte, Prince Edward, Mecklenburg, Brunswick, and Halifax, you are part of the initial region being considered for this chapter and encouraged to attend.

“Buy Fresh Buy Local” is a nationally recognized marketing resource helping to rebuild local food systems and promote sustainable agriculture by: increasing consumer awareness and access to local food, improving direct marketing of local food from farm to table, and connecting local food suppliers to restaurants, institutions, and retail outlets.

Additional information about Buy Fresh, Buy Local in Virginia is available at www.buylocalvirginia.org. To register to attend the January 19th meeting or for more information, contact Eric Bowen, extension agent, Prince Edward County, (434) 392-4246 or e-mail bowen@vt.edu.