The Piedmont Environmental Council recently held an Open House & Family Day at PEC’s Community Farm at Roundabout Meadows, near Aldie. The outing featured children’s activities for face painting, a scavenger hunt, and a pollinator habitat creation station. There were group farm tours with details on the farm’s role providing healthy, locally-grown produce to food-insecure families in Loudoun County, through its donations to Loudoun Hunger Relief.
Loudoun County is one of the wealthiest and most rapidly developing jurisdictions in our country. And yet, more than 14,000 Loudoun community members—half of them children—are food insecure. The Piedmont Environmental Council launched its Community Farm at Roundabout Meadows in early 2019 to grow and harvest fresh produce for donation to Loudoun Hunger Relief. In its first season, the farm produced almost 5,000 pounds of fresh fruits and veggies, including potatoes, tomatoes, squash, and melons. Since then, production has grown by more than 600 percent. Throughout its 2021 season, more than 750 volunteers donated over 1,600 hours of their time, harvesting 35,000 pounds of fresh produce for donation to Loudoun Hunger Relief. In honor of PEC’s 50th anniversary, the Community Farm has set a 2022 goal to grow and donate 50,000 pounds of regeneratively grown produce.
Since 1972, The Piedmont Environmental Council has proudly promoted and protected the natural resources, rural economy, history and beauty of the Virginia Piedmont. PEC empowers residents to protect what makes the Piedmont a wonderful place, and works with citizens to conserve land, improve air and water quality and build thriving communities. PEC is a 501(c)(3) non-profit and accredited land trust. Learn more at www.pecva.org.
