As we’ve mentioned before, Senator Kirsten Gillibrand has a track record of supporting New York’s small farmers and food producers. She was the first New York senator to serve on the House Committee on Agriculture in 41 years when she joined back in 2009, and has since been an ally to advocates for sustainable and localized food systems.
One of her latest efforts to support New York producers took place on Capitol Hill earlier this week when she hosted a “New York Farm Day” to “tastefully remind Congress, the Administration and others that New York is a major agricultural state, and agriculture is a major part of the state’s economy.” The event took place on Tuesday, September 17, in the Senate Kennedy Caucus Room on Capitol Hill and hosted several hundreds of guests including “many other senators, the New York Congressional legislative chiefs of staff, agricultural specialists in Congress and the Administration [and] members of Washington media.” Additionally, the producers of the wines, beer, spirits and food were present to showcase their work.
This is not the first time that the Empire State has played host to this popular event; the event first took place in 2002 and has grown steadily ever since. The event, which is organized by the New York Wine & Grape Foundation, is usually organized by New York’s major wine-producing regions such as “Long Island, Brooklyn and New York City, the Hudson Valley, the Capital District, Central New York, the Finger Lakes, the Niagara and Erie areas and North Country.”
This year, presenters included some of our favorite local spots like Brooklyn Brewery, Brooklyn Winery, Kings County Distillery, 61 Local, Bien Cuit, The Jam Stand, BK Farmyards, A. Bauer’s Mustard, Brooklyn Brine, Salvatore Bklyn, Classie’s Jam, Liddabit Sweets and Peoples Pops.
