For Immediate Release

PEC Buy Fresh Buy Local Guide for Loudoun in the Mail

(Leesburg, Virginia) The Piedmont Environmental Council is pleased to announce the Buy Fresh/Buy Local Guide for Loudoun County is in the mail and will arrive at homes no later than the end of June.

"Last year's Buy Fresh Buy Local guide was well received," said Michael Kane, Land Conservation Office for Loudoun County. "The response this year has been even better and we are pleased to join with our multiple private sector and public sector partners."

In Loudoun County PEC is partnering with Inova Loudoun Hospital, the Loudoun County Department of Economic Development, the Loudoun Convention & Visitors Association, the Farm Bureau and many other private sector partners to help customers identify and purchase local foods while dining and shopping at restaurants and markets. Area businesses will be utilizing Buy Fresh Buy Local marketing materials and signage to highlight locally grown products on shelves and menus.

According to the Virginia Cooperative Extension there is a critical economic impact from increasing the amount of local food purchased in the area. If each household in Loudoun County spent $10 per week on locally produced foods and farm products, it would generate $48.5 million annual dollars of direct economic impact to the region's economy, farms, families and communities.

Local food is fresher and tastes better than food shipped long distances from other states or countries. Local farmers can offer produce varieties bred for taste and freshness rather than for shipping and long shelf life. By buying local foods you will:

• Strengthen Your Local Economy
• Support Endangered Family Farms
• Safeguard Your Families Health

Promoting local food complements PEC's other efforts to preserve rural land. Since 1972, PEC has led one of the most successful private land conservation movements in America. Now, approximately 307,500 acres of private land are protected in its nine county region -- an acreage that is one and a half times the size of Shenandoah National Park.

For more information regarding PEC's Buy Fresh Buy Local program please visit our web site at www.buylocalvirginia.org. The Loudoun Guide can be downloaded at: http://www.buylocalvirginia.org/bfbl/localChapters.php#loudoun.