Contact: Lea Justice, Buy Fresh Buy Local Assistant, [email protected]; 540-347-2334, x7027
Warrenton, Va. (May 7, 2025) – With spring in full bloom across the Virginia Piedmont, The Piedmont Environmental Council (PEC) is pleased to announce the release of the 2025-2026 Buy Fresh Buy Local guide, a bi-annual handbook that helps to connect residents throughout the region to fresh local food directly from farmers, farmers markets, and food businesses in their communities.
The guides, which have been mailed to over 320,000 households in the coming weeks, cover three distinct regions: the Northern Piedmont, including Culpeper, Fauquier, Madison, Orange and Rappahannock counties; Charlottesville Area, including Albemarle, Fluvanna, Greene, Louisa and Nelson counties; and Loudoun County.
Each Buy Fresh Buy Local guide features approximately 200 area-specific farms, orchards, farmers markets, wineries, breweries, restaurants and retailers, as well as a travel map highlighting locations to visit and a seasonal fruit and vegetable availability calendar.
“The Buy Fresh Buy Local guides shine a spotlight on the mutually beneficial relationship between producers and consumers, one which enables healthy, resilient and agriculturally viable communities to thrive across the Piedmont,” says Lea Justice, PEC’s Buy Fresh Buy Local Assistant. “I am grateful to the many hard-working farmers and entrepreneurs who provide our community with such abundance, and to those who choose to shop locally and keep them in business.
Buy Fresh Buy Local is produced with generous support from community sponsors (see below) and distributed free of charge to residents across Virginia’s Piedmont region. PEC is grateful to continue its commitment to supporting working farms while helping residents discover the wide variety of local food options available throughout the Piedmont region.
Community members can download digital versions of all three Buy Fresh Buy Local guides at pecva.org/buylocal. PEC also maintains a searchable website at buylocalpiedmont.org, featuring an interactive map that helps consumers find exactly what they’re looking for in their area.
To learn more about PEC’s local farms and food program, visit https://www.pecva.org/our-work/working-farms-and-food/.
Thank you to the following sponsors whose generous support made the 2025-26 edition of Buy Fresh Buy Local possible:
PATH
Finest Butcher
Wegmans
Kinloch Farm
Choose Culpeper Farms
Culpeper Farm Tour
Loudoun VA Cooperative Extension
New Country Organics
Farm Credit of the Virginias
Oak Spring Garden Foundation
Purely Piedmont
Southern Exposure Seed Exchange
Visit Loudoun
Albemarle Economic Development
Brickyard Bull
Fauquier County Agricultural
Development
Loudoun Farm Bureau
Loudoun Valley Homegrown Market
Cooperative
Mad Magic Kombucha
Mom’s Apple Pie
Peter Wiley Real Estate
F.T. Valley Orchard at Mont Medi
Great Country Farms
Integrated Yoga Natural Foods
Long Stone Farm
Market Central’s Market at IX
NOVEC
Sunnyside Farm & Conservancy
4 J’s Farm Brewery
Ayrshire Farm
Buchanan Hall Community Market
Carter Mountain Orchard
Chiswell Farm & Winery
Ducard Vineyard
Feast
Field & Main
Hidden Creek Farm LLC
Ovoka Farm
Rappahannock Farm Tour
Red Truck Bakery
Riders Backfield Beef
VA Bison Co. at Cibola Farms
Willowsford Farm Conservancy
4P Foods
Belmont Farm Distillery
Hummingbird Hill Native Plant Nursery
VA Soil Health Coalition
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The Piedmont Environmental Council (PEC) works to protect and restore the lands and waters of the Virginia Piedmont, while building stronger, more sustainable communities. Founded in 1972, PEC is a locally based, community-supported 501(c)3 nonprofit and accredited land trust. At the core of PEC’s approach is a focus on educating, engaging and empowering people to effect positive change in their communities.