State Senator Patty Ritchie is hoping that a New York City plan to bring more New York-made foods to Big Apple schools, prisons and employee lunch rooms will result in a boost for upstate farmers and food producers, including those in her North Country district.

Ritchie, 47th District senator from Heuvelton and chair of the Senate’s Agriculture Committee, said the plan would expose a wide swath of downstate consumers to the diversity and quality of farm products from upstate New York, and provide a major boost to the state’s agriculture economy, and she has offered to help promote the effort through legislation and by helping to connect agencies with suppliers.

“Buying regionally grown foods and farm products, such as fruits and vegetables, meats and dairy products, will not only promote good health for New Yorkers by bringing more fresh, nutritious and quality products within reach of consumers, it’s also a celebration of the wide variety of nutritious and tasteful products that 30,000 New York farmers—from Eastern Long Island to the Canadian border—strive to produce every day,” Ritchie said.

“Accessing the largest consumer marketplace in the nation—the New York City metropolitan area—is key to the growth and success of our vital agriculture sector, which remains New York’s largest industry, and the foundation of the economies of so many communities across our diverse state, like those I represent,” Ritchie said.

Ritchie says it is another chance to boost agriculture in the state, such as when she convinced Governor Cuomo’s Commissioner of General Services to return New York-made milk to lunchrooms at the state capital that serve 40,000 employees and visitors every day. The eateries were selling milk produced in Colorado but now offer products from upstate dairy farms, including some in Central and Northern New York.

Ritchie is a cosponsor of the “Buy From The Backyard Act” in the Senate, which would require state agencies, including prisons and hospitals, to purchase 20 percent of their food from New York growers and producers.

The New York City plan requires 10 percent of purchases be made from local sources, and both plans include provisions to ensure competitive pricing. The city says it is second only to the U.S. military in food purchases.