August is Pennsylvania Produce Month

Pennsylvania Vegetables are at their Best!

            While different Pennsylvania vegetable crops are available to consumers throughout the year, especially as canned and frozen products, fresh “Simply Delicious, Simply Nutritious” Pennsylvania vegetables are at their peak in August.  There’s sweet corn, potatoes, snap beans, tomatoes, peppers, cabbage, cantaloupes, watermelon, zucchini and other squash, lima beans, lettuce, beets, carrots, onions, fresh herbs and more.

            Roadside farm markets are a favorite place to pick-up fresh, locally grown vegetables – or even pick-your-own.  Pennsylvania farm markets may be a simple picnic table under a shade tree in front of the farmer’s house or a large modern retail store with a full-line of local produce along with a bakery, deli, and garden center.  Some markets will be hosting special festivals with various forms of entertainment for your whole family during PA Produce Month.

            Shopping at a community farmer’s market is also an enjoyable way to buy “Simply Delicious, Simply Nutritious” vegetables from a variety of local growers. Most farmers’ markets are open at least one day a week while some offer several shopping days.  Here, the farmers bring their fresh farm products to your neighborhood allowing you to purchase your food directly from the farmer who produced it.

            Pennsylvania has over 1,000 farm markets and community farmers’ markets and nearly 200 of them are participating in the PA Produce Month promotion - many with special events or offers to their customers.  For a list of participating markets, click here.  But all the farm markets and farmers’ markets in the state will be offering an abundance of “Simply Delicious, Simply Nutritious” Pennsylvania vegetables during August.  To find one near you, call the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture at 717-783-9948 to request a copy of “A Consumer’s Guide to Pennsylvania Farm Markets 2006”.  The Guide is also available online in a pdf format.  Two other valuable resources are Penn State University’s AgMap  and Rodale Institute’s New Farm Farm Locator websites.  Both are online searchable databases of farm markets across the state.

            Actually, you can also often purchase Pennsylvania produce in your favorite supermarket right along with your other groceries.  It will be identified with the “Simply Delicious, Simply Nutritious”  or “PA Preferred” logos.  As more people are recognizing the freshness and quality of local produce, supermarkets are making a special effort to purchase more of their fruit and vegetables from Pennsylvania growers in season.  For a list of supermarkets participating the PA Produce Month promotion, click here

            Sweet corn is Pennsylvania’s largest vegetable crop.  Growers plant over 22,000 acres per year ranking the state as the sixth largest producer of fresh market sweet corn and the eighth largest producer of processing sweet corn. 

            Snap beans are the second largest vegetable crop with 14,000 acres being grown.  Most of the snap beans are grown for processing, ranking the state sixth in the nation in processing snap bean production. 

            Pennsylvania ranks second in the nation in the production of pumpkins, the state’s third largest vegetable with 10,400 acres being grown.  Tomatoes are the state’s fourth largest vegetable crop.  Pennsylvania growers plant 4,200 acres of fresh market tomatoes, ranking Pennsylvania tenth in the nation, plus about 1,000 acres of processing tomatoes.

            The other top ten Pennsylvania vegetable crops are cabbage at about 2,100 acres (13^th in the nation); peppers at about 1,400 acres; cantaloupes at 1,300 (eighth in the nation); squash at 1,100 acres;  peas at 800 acres; and cucumbers at 700 acres.

            Pennsylvania vegetables are “Simply Delicious” and that is reason enough to seek them out during August, but they are also “Simply Nutritious.”   For nutritional information on Pennsylvania vegetables, click here.