New Program Would Tell Consumers What is "Grown in New York"

Visitors to a Central New York farmers' market

The State Senate today approved a bill to help push more locally grown food onto consumers’ plates with a marketing campaign aimed at making them aware that products are “Grown in New York.”

The bill creates the “Grown in New York” marketing program, which sets standards for producers who want to label their foods as local.

The measure is part of state Sen. Patricia Ritchie’s plan to help meet consumers’ demands for locally-grown food, support local farmers in their efforts to provide quality, fresh products, and strengthen rural communities.

The “Grown in New York” promotional campaign is designed to complement the state’s “Taste NY” and “Pride of New York” programs, by:

** Creating a specific “Grown in New York” logo to identify locally grown and produced goods, as well as to be used in marketing and social media campaigns;

** Building a “Grown in New York” website that links consumers and local producers;

** Providing educational and training programs to help consumers learn about the values and benefits of buying local;

** Finding opportunities for farmers and agribusiness owners to expand their markets; and

** Highlighting food and cultural tourism trails — like the local wine trails in Jefferson and St. Lawrence Counties, and those that link New York’s 400 other wineries.

Passage of the measure builds on recent efforts to put more locally grown and produced foods on the tables of New Yorkers across the state.