Cornell Cooperative Extension of Chautauqua County (CCE), in collaboration with the Chautauqua Health Collaborative (CHC), announces the publication of CCE Chautauqua’s first annual ‘Local Food Guide.’

In mid-2024, CCE and CHC came together with the intent to create a guide that could direct local community residents and visitors to all-things local food, including connections to local farm stands, farmers’ markets, Community Supported Agriculture programs, and emergency food services.

The CHQ Health Collaborative was created by Chautauqua Health Network with the goal of creating a healthier community through supporting and strengthening local voices and increasing health literacy and activism. CHC has partnered with CCE over the past several years, most notably in facilitating a community Food Pantry Network, providing quarterly meetups open to the almost 30 food pantries in the county to share ideas, resources and challenges.

Many Cornell Cooperatives across NYS design and print local food guides annually, including Jefferson, Tompkins and Erie counties. CCE Chautauqua spent time reaching out to these offices, as well as researching local food guides across the country to get ideas for layout, content and what local information to include.

CCE saw the creation of a ‘Local Food Guide’ as a natural evolution of ‘Chautauqua Grown’, an online platform connecting consumers directly to area farms, farmers’ markets and wholesale distributors first created in 2016.

While the ‘Local Food Guide’ aims to be a wonderful starting point for those looking to invest more locally, it is not meant to be an exhaustive list of farms and other local food businesses and organizations. Farms, farm stands, businesses and organizations that feel they should be highlighted in the guide can reach out to Community Food System Educator Linnea Haskin, at 716-664-9502 or lmc373@cornell.edu

CCE’s ‘Local Food Guide’ can be found on their website, https://chautauqua.cce.cornell.edu/ , as well as in physical print form at various locations across the county, including area farms, libraries and restaurants. All physical print guides are free to the public. Chautauqua Grown can also be accessed online.

The Nutrition Program is one of many programs offered by Cornell Cooperative Extension of Chautauqua County (CCE-Chautauqua). CCE-Chautauqua is a subordinate governmental agency with an educational mission that operates under a form of organization and administration approved by Cornell University as agent for the State of New York. It is tax-exempt under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. The association is part of the national cooperative extension system, an educational partnership between County, State, and Federal governments. As New York’s land grant university Cornell administers the system in this state. Each Cornell Cooperative Extension association is an independent employer that is governed by an elected Board of Directors with general oversight from Cornell. All associations work to meet the needs of the counties in which they are located as well as state and national goals. For more information, call 716-664-9502 or visit our website at www.cce.cornell.edu/chautauqua.

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