CANTON -- Local food producers and community residents are invited to a winter social on Monday, Feb. 11, from 6-8 p.m. at The TAUNY Center in Canton.

Attendees will have the opportunity to mingle in an informal setting, enjoy appetizers and hear brief updates from area organizations on local food initiatives.

Cornell Cooperative Extension and other partners will highlight recent successes, current projects, and future plans to enhance local food production.

“A few years ago the Village of Canton won a grant to prepare a ‘Local Foods, Local Places’ strategic plan. We want to celebrate some of the successes that are tied to that project, and to begin talking about ‘Where do we go from here?’” said Carol Pynchon, village trustee and Local Foods Advisory Board Member.

Pynchon said after the plan was prepared, a number of stakeholders regularly met as members of Cooperative Extension’s Local Foods Advisory Group to implement parts of the plan.

“We feel like we’ve made good headway on some key initiatives and we want to examine how we can keep the momentum going.”

In addition to socializing with area producers and residents who are interested in local food production, attendees will also have the opportunity to view TAUNY’s current exhibit “Seeing Red: A Love Affair with Family, Life on the Farm, and the Big Sky” which feature photos of Blake and Carmen Gendebien’s family farm in Lisbon.

“Whether you’re a livestock or maple producer, operate a CSA or manage an orchard, we invite all local producers to the event to be a part of this process” said Pynchon.

The TAUNY Center is located at 53 Main Street in downtown Canton.

The event is free, and interested persons are asked to register online at: stlawrence.cce.cornell.edu/events, or by calling Cornell Cooperative Extension of St. Lawrence County at 315-379-9192.