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DALLAS – Close to 200 guests were able to learn just how much food, wine and more is created right here in Northeastern Pennsylvania Sunday evening inside the Huntsville Golf Club clubhouse during the 8th annual Taste the Local Harvest.
The annual event was hosted by the North Branch Land Trust and created to shine a spotlight on area farmers, according to land trust Executive Director Paul Lumia.
In its 25th year, the North Branch Land Trust is a nonprofit dedicated to land conservation, serving eight counties throughout the Northeastern Tier.
“We work with private landowners, communities and public landowners, and we work to conserve the land and permanently protect it so it can never be developed again,” he explained of the nonprofit. “Since 1994, we’ve conserved over 20,000 acres in Northeast Pennsylvania.”
The organization protects land for a variety of causes, including rare or endangered plant and animal life, agricultural needs, community needs and more, he added.
While guests were sampling everything from cheese spreads to butternut squash and even turkey donated from nearly 20 local providers, Barbara Romanansky spoke of the idea behind creating Taste the Local Harvest.
“This is an awareness-building event for us and for the community,” the nonprofit’s director of development said. “It’s really important that people in our region know what quality of local food is available. Our local farmers work so hard to put food on our table.”
Wanting to create an event that catered to the farm-to-table idea, she said local farms can offer fresher, higher-quality items right in your own backyard. Having an event that showcases locally grown and locally made items helps keep farms alive while raising the economy, she added.
“It’s important to our quality of life, it’s important to our health that we have beautiful vistas, that we protect our watersheds, that we protect the habitat for our indigenous animals … and all of that translates into an economic boom for our area,” Romanansky explained, citing heavy tourism to view the area’s fall foliage as an example.
Speaking with attendees as they sampled an array of spirits, Lang Beverage Company owners Jonathan and Mary Ann Lang were happy to partake in the event for the first time.
The Nanticoke distillers have been creating various spirits for more two years, bringing a spread of homemade vodkas, rums and gins to the event.
The dup said they were grateful to be able to participate in the harvest festivities while also supporting local farmers and land conservation efforts.
“I think it’s valuable. I believe we’re supporting the conservation of land here, and with a lot of the mine strippings around here it just left decalite areas,” Jonathan Lang said. “We need to clean that up. We need to provide something better for the future than what is already here.”
For more information on the North Branch Land trust, visit nblt.org.
