Working Farms & Local Food

Farmland and forests produce the essentials of life, from the food on our tables to clean water and air. In PEC’s nine-county area, approximately 200,000 acres of farmland and 198,000 acres of forests are protected through private, voluntary land conservation.

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Flavor of the Piedmont Event

Flavor of the Piedmont Event

Come taste the flavor of the Piedmont! The Rappahannock-Rapidan Regional Commission and Piedmont Environmental Council are co-hosting a food expo to showcase the region’s locally-grown food and beverages. This two-part event will take place on …
Let There Be Fruits and Veggies

Let There Be Fruits and Veggies

The Piedmont Environmental Council’s Community Farm at Roundabout Meadows was founded with two ideas in mind: to connect residents to Loudoun’s vital agricultural economy and to provide locally grown fruits and vegetables for its food-insecure …
angus

Piedmont Beef Survey

PEC is working with Health Care Without Harm (HCWH), a regional non-profit that encourages large institutions like hospitals and universities to purchase locally-raised beef. The purpose of our study is to better understand beef production …
| | Working Farms & Food
nixon family

Award-Winning Farmer Protects Farmland for Future Generations

This past summer, in an effort to preserve the prime farmland and help ensure continued operations, the Nixons chose to permanently protect 382 acres of their land through a conservation easement with the Piedmont Environmental …
Roundabout Meadows sign in front of a meadow

Growing Connections: The Community Farm at Roundabout Meadows

Food brings people together. But healthy food is sometimes hard to come by. Despite Loudoun County’s reputation as a wealthy community, a surprising number of children in the county — one in 10 — live …
Virginia Farm Winery Study

Virginia Farm Winery Study

Heads up! The VA Dept. of Agriculture is using this survey to gather feedback about the impacts of farm wineries and winery events on neighbors and communities near wineries (e.g. noise & traffic). The deadline …
| | Working Farms & Food
Matchmaker, Matchmaker

Matchmaker, Matchmaker

If you can connect and have a good relationship, farmer to landowner, this can be an amazing, beautiful and productive thing. It really can work,” says Katharine Wilson, manager of the new Berrey Hill Farm …
Productive Pastures at Bean Hollow Grassfed

Productive Pastures at Bean Hollow Grassfed

At Bean Hollow Grassfed, Mike Sands wanted to use his training to revive Over Jordan Farm’s worn-out pastures and develop a financially stable farm model. Read about our approach to this project, or listen to …
Fenced in at Roundabout Meadows

Fenced in at Roundabout Meadows

Polluted water is not only bad for us and the environment, but it’s bad for livestock as well,” says Celia Vuocolo, habitat and stewardship specialist at PEC. A significant stewardship project is wrapping up this …
Grazing Along

Grazing Along

A large herd of fluffy, yet still intimidating, sheep run full speed through a gate as they’re rotated to an alternate pasture at Over Jordan Farm in Flint Hill, Va. “I don’t use herding dogs …

The Piedmont Environmental Council is a partner of the Virginia Soil Health Coalition. We support the 4 core principles of soil health management: Keep Soil Covered; Minimize Soil Disturbance; Maximize Living Roots; and, Energize with Diversity. Join the movement today at 4thesoil.org.