The Piedmont Environmental Council is proudly working with multiple community partners to support local farms and farmers, create more public access to outdoor spaces, and support the county’s food insecure population. Some of these initiatives were inspired or amplified by the Covid-19 pandemic, while others continue to advance PEC’s core mission of protecting and promoting the Piedmont’s natural resources, rural economy, history and beauty.
Working Farms & Food
Farmland and forests produce the necessities of life and provide essential natural services. In PEC’s nine county area, over 180,000 acres of farmland and 140,000 acres of forests are protected through private, voluntary land conservation.
Buy Fresh Buy Local Northern Piedmont guides connect consumers with local food and farms
With the spring growing season upon the Virginia Piedmont, The Piedmont Environmental Council is pleased to announce the release of its 2021-2022 Buy Fresh Buy Local guides for each of PEC’s three Buy Fresh Buy Local Chapters.
Webinar: Quarterly Keynote Feat. DC Central Kitchen CEO Mike Curtin
In March 2021, PEC hosted its first ever Quarterly Keynote with Mike Curtin from DC Central Kitchen.
Spring Update from the Community Farm
Our third season is underway with more than 12,000 seedlings in the greenhouse.
We Hope You Can Join Us
I’d like to take a minute this week to highlight three upcoming events geared towards PEC members and supporters.
- Thurs, March 11: Go Native!
- Tues, March 30: PEC Quarterly Keynote featuring Mike Curtin (CEO of DC Central Kitchen)
- Thurs, April 29: Brook Trout: Gems of the Piedmont
March is our Membership Month, a time of year when we celebrate our current members and encourage others to join or renew! Learn more and sign up to attend!
Action Alert: Protecting Farmland Now and For the Future
Farmland lost is farmland lost forever. Budget amendment 97 #2h (Gooditis) would provide an additional $2 million to the Farmland Preservation Fund grant program (current funding is only $250,000), providing much-needed matching funds and encouraging other localities to adopt Purchase of Development Rights programs of their own.
Video: Wrapping up 2020 at the Community Farm
We had an incredible 2020 season at the Community Farm at Roundabout Meadows! Thanks to the tireless work of over 470 volunteers, we donated more than 25,000 pounds of fresh, locally grown produce to our partners at Loudoun Hunger Relief!
Farm to Food Pantry Initiatives During the Pandemic
Since March, with the help of partners and supporters, The Piedmont Environmental Council has provided 25,000 pounds of vegetables, 25,000 gallons of milk, and more than 11,000 pounds of local beef and pork to the food-insecure in our nine-county region of the northern Piedmont. That’s more than 50,000 pounds of locally-sourced products for local food banks, which has a very different impact on the local economy than shipping in 50,000 pounds of food from somewhere else.
Ovoka Farm joins Piedmont Environmental Council’s Farm to Food Bank initiative with 10,000 pound meat donation
Ovoka Farm owner Karen Way, of Paris, is donating 10,000 pounds of locally-raised ground beef and ground pork toward The Piedmont Environmental Council’s Farm to Food Bank initiative, which is supporting food banks throughout the northern Piedmont.
Summer on the Farm
As of early September, we have donated more than 22,000 pounds of fresh produce to Loudoun Hunger Relief!