With the summer months just getting underway, the Berks County Department of Agriculture partnered with the Greater Reading Chamber Alliance to find one more way to support our local agri-business community. The Grow Together campaign features a website, www.GrowTogetherBerks.com with an online directory for local food, farm stands and other growers in the County. Supporting agricultural producers is a focus area of the IMAGINE Berks plan. The creation of the online portal for locations and descriptions of what farmer’s markets, farm stand and vendors offer is a tool that local consumers can use to support buying local. With over 150 locations already populated in the database, there are countless places to visit and support across Berks County.
This map shows just the farmer’s markets using the filtering options.
Some of the map features include detailed filters to find exactly what you are looking for. Being able to toggle between the business type (farmer’s market, stand, store), types of products ranging from agritourism to Christmas trees (and everything in between!), the map is the perfect tool to discover the wide range of products produced locally. If there is a farm or business you know about that is not currently listed, getting them added is simple! Filling out the directory form with the name, location, contact details and a brief description is all that is needed for the team to review and add it to the map.
As the website grows, there will be events, blogs and other content related to the farming and agriculture community to keep the website fresh and content rich. The focus on the importance of agriculture is not something new for Berks County. We are adding this consumer-focused approach of how every day food choices and purchases can support local industry and keep that money circulating in the community.