NYS Grown & Certified
Celebrating 10 Years of Growth
This year, the New York State Grown & Certified program is celebrating a very special milestone—the program’s 10-year anniversary!
In 2016, the program was launched to meet the growing consumer demand for local food grown or produced to a higher standard, and to help tell the story of New York’s tremendous agricultural industry. New York State has, after all, nearly 33,000 farms growing and producing the world’s very best products—with over 30 different commodities that rank in the top 10 in the nation. We have access to land, good soil, abundant water, and proximity to the world’s largest marketplace. Our producers are innovative, adaptable, and resilient, farming with an eye toward environmental stewardship and food safety, ensuring that their products are grown right.
In August of 2016, the New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets was proud to launch NYS Grown & Certified, kicking off a ground-breaking program that not only spotlights New York agriculture and our local producers, but also promotes our farmers and processors who take extra care in the areas of food safety and environmental stewardship. The program started with our fruit and vegetable growers, and we’re proud to say that the program has since grown to add even more commodities to capture the diversity of New York agriculture, like dairy, beef, maple, craft beverages, aquaculture, Christmas trees, and even fiber.
Ten years later, the New York State Grown & Certified program continues to shine the spotlight on New York’s growers and producers. We have promoted all of our producers in the program at trade shows, in industry publications, in grocery stores, at media events, and on television, the radio, social media, and billboards across the state. We have stood up a website, helping our consumers connect to Grown & Certified participants and find their products; launched a grant funding program to help get the Grown & Certified seal on packaging; administered, in cooperation with the New York Farm Viability Institute, the Grown & Certified Infrastructure, Technology, Research and Development Grant Program to provide our program participants with the resources they need to grow; and so much more.
We are proud of how far we have come, and we’re excited to have more opportunities for growth ahead of us! If you’d like to stay up to date with how we’re celebrating, you can follow along with our newsletter! Going out on the 10th of every month for the rest of the year, we will be sharing some special events, campaigns, and spotlights as we continue to celebrate this 10-year milestone! Sign up here to stay in the loop!
Information for Shoppers, Producers, and Buyers Get Involved
NYS Grown & Certified
Harvested With Heart
New York State’s agriculture industry is one of our great assets. Keeping it growing and thriving is one of the most important things we can do - and the New York State Grown & Certified program helps us do just that.
Launched in 2016, the New York State Grown & Certified program assures consumers that the food they are buying is local and produced to a higher standard by requiring participating producers to adopt food safety standards and enroll in an environmental management program. Since the program began, New York State Grown & Certified has grown and evolved to cover 20 agricultural commodities and processing industries. This voluntary program is a cooperative effort among producers, processors, wholesalers, retailers, restaurants, and the New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets to meet consumer demand for high-quality food and agricultural products.
What People are Saying
Testimonials
Melissa Autilio Fleischut, President and CEO, New York State Restaurant Association
"The New York State Restaurant Association proudly supports New York State's new initiative—New York State Grown & Certified—so consumers can feel more confident about what they eat and where they are eating, and to provide a real benefit to New York State’s food industry."
Andrew Rigie, Executive Director, New York City Hospitality Alliance
"New York City restaurants demand incredible, locally grown ingredients. With the New York State Grown & Certified program they can be confident that the products they purchase and serve are locally grown and produced to a higher standard."
Michael McDonough, Owner, Tongore Brook Farms LLC
"As a farmer in New York State it's really, really wonderful to be part of the NYS Grown & Certified program. As a member of the NYS Grown & Certified family, one of the things we’re most concerned about is getting the best – the best soil, the best seeds, the best practices – to you and your family, delivering the most quality nutrition we can."
