For Immediate Release

Eat Local Challenge a Success

The inaugural Eat Local Challenge sponsored by the Piedmont Environmental Council (PEC) was a great success.

In the Charlottesville area Challenge participants cited well over 150 sources of local foods including farms, retailers and farmers markets. According to the 2007 U.S. Census of Agriculture, direct to consumer sales of locally produced foods grew approximately 72% over the past five years. During this same time period in Virginia, the number of farms selling direct few almost 14% (2513 farms to 2855 farms) with the average sales per farm growing from $6,695 to $10,115 a 51% increase.

"PEC's Buy Fresh Buy Local campaign has become an important tool for facilitating direct to consumer sales," said Melissa Wiley who runs the Buy Fresh campaign for PEC. "Through marketing and consumer education, we are helping local producers maximize the economic opportunities that come with this increased consumer demand for locally grown foods."

In a separate matter, the Charlottesville City Market had record sales of $1.1 million in 2009. According to the results of a survey of 800 customers by the Project for Public Spaces, 60% of market shoppers at a variety of indoor and open-air markets around the country also visited nearby stores on the same day; of those, 60% said that they visited those additional stores only on days that they visit the market.