As told by Ben Lambert - The Register Citizen: The group, which included elected officials as well as residents from area towns, discussed employment, regional development and future growth.

LITCHFIELD >> Local elected officials and residents gathered for a discussion of economic development in the region Monday evening, as the Northwest Hills Council of Governments held the annual “NWCT Economic Development Summit” in the Litchfield Community Center.

The tagline for the event was “Think Regionally, Act Locally: Jobs & Vibrant Main Streets.” A series of successful and ongoing examples of economic development in the region were discussed, including the recent Gilmore Girls Festival held in Washington; the opening of the Berkshire Country Store in Norfolk; a teaching effort that enabled business owners to receive a loan, then pay it off, as they bought the True Value hardware store in Winsted; recent recognition for KidsPlay Children’s Museum and Arethusa Farms; the NWCONNect initiative, designed to foster the possibility of fiber optic internet connections in the region; the planned food hub; and a planned Entrepreneurial Center at Northwestern Connecticut Community College.

The food hub, according to Bill Burgess, executive director of Partners for Sustainable Healthy Communities, is to be located in Torrington, and serve the area within 50 miles of the city. About $300,000 has been put into the project in the last two-and-a-half years, Burgess said, with another grant from the state Department of Agriculture recently obtained.

Here is what is happening in the "Food Hub" world - in New York City, where shoppers and diners can find delicacies from all over the world, there is hefty demand for food grown closer to home.

The taste for products from farms in the Northeast has led South Bronx-based Greenmarket Co., a nonprofit regional food distributor that serves as the middleman between farmers and buyers, to constantly expand the size and scope of its operation over the last half-decade.  Read more -

This week marked the end of American Farmland Trust’s summer-long Farmers Market Celebration – an annual effort to rally support for local farms and family farmers by calling on shoppers to identify the best of America’s farmers markets and Litchfield Hills Farm-Fresh Market was rated top 6 in Connecticut.

This year’s Celebration encouraged market customers, family farmers, community members – anyone who believed they had the best farmers market in the country – to endorse their market in four unique areas: Focus on Farmers, Healthy Food for All, Pillar of the Community and Champion for the Environment.

​Thank you community for supporting us!

The Litchfield Hills Farm-Fresh Market took place July 2, 2016 at the Litchfield Center School parking lot.  There were 18 food and crafts vendors and one musician. 
 
A terrific article in the Register Citizen: LITCHFIELD >> The supply had a hard time keeping up with the demand at the Litchfield Hills Farm-Fresh Market at the Litchfield Center School parking lot at 125 West St. on Saturday. Approximately 500 visitors visited the 18 food and crafts vendors (and one musician) between 10 a.m. and 1 p.m.  Read MORE on the Register Citizen's website.

​As posted in Litchfield.BZ - The Litchfield Hills Farm-Fresh Market moved outside to its home in the Center School parking lot on Saturday in beginning its 10th season of operation.

There were 17 vendors on the first day, a number that is expected to grow to 21 as the season progresses. Vendors back include Bantam Bread, Brookside Farm II, Berry Ledges Apiary, Wild Carrot Farm, Deeply Rooted Farms and March Farms. 
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​Click HERE to read More -