Local foodies are getting an unexpected addition to their shopping lists: broccoli grown in Western New York. It's an offshoot of the devastating drought in California which left farmers there unable to grow a crop they took away from this area decades ago.
"We lost the broccoli business to the California area about 30 years ago," food supplier and Erie County Legislature Chairman John Mills said. "The broccoli business is coming back to Western New York."
"WD Henry [& Sons] bought up another 100 acres or so of property in Eden, to grow just broccoli."
Mills says it's good for an area which is making fundamental changes in what it eats and how it prepares foods.
"Whatever we can buy that's homegrown here is better for the consumer price-wise and quality-wise. There's a lot of organic farming going on in the southern tier of Erie County with better prices than shipping in from California or someplace else," Mill said.
Even with the devastating past winter, Eden farmers are the main source of fresh veggies for Western New York and beyond.
