BLAIRSTOWN — Across the nation, there are television shows, fitness gurus and medical professionals chanting the same mantra: You Are What You Eat. Take that a step further and the message becomes: What you eat impacts not only your own health, but also the health of your community, your local environment, and the local economy. So it makes sense to know who grew your food. This is the concept behind the cooperative effort of the Foodshed Alliance and Sustainable Blairstown, two organizations committed to the health of the area’s communities through the Buy Fresh/Buy Local campaign.

“The Northwest New Jersey area is rich in both natural beauty and farmland, making it the perfect place to celebrate the connection between farmers and their neighbors,” said Kendrya Close, spokesperson for the Foodshed Alliance, based in Blairstown. “We find that it’s just a matter providing a little information here and there that helps our friends in the restaurant and food businesses make the transition to more local purchases. Everyone recognizes the importance of helping one another in this challenging economy, and what we have found is that our businesses are already participating in local buying more than we had even thought. It’s wonderful.”

“I try to use local items wherever possible,” states Lori Siegel of Gourmet Gallery in Blairstown. “We have to choose carefully and keep our eye on the bottom line, but the flavor is often worth the few extra cents here and there. And I think my customers really notice the difference in freshness.”

Buckwood Bistro, a recent winner of the Greater Poconos Chamber of Commerce Restaurant Award, located on Route 46 in Delaware, also adheres to the “fresh-first” philosophy. Jean-Louis Todeschini, Buckwood’s chef, and Sharon Peck, the restaurant’s manager, say they’ve always thought homemade and homegrown was what set their delicious Country French cuisine apart. “We use what we can from our own gardens first, then go to local farmers for whatever we need after that,” explained Todeschini, a former executive chef at Le Cirque, NYC, and Foods Section consultant to New York Magazine. “In the growing season there is so much great local produce that it doesn’t make sense to do otherwise. Our Jersey Salad is a perfect example. We use garden greens and whatever other items are best and ripest during that week: string beans, potatoes, corn — whatever is ready to pick — all topped with our fresh herbed Jersey-tomato salad dressing. Nothing artificial. No MSG. This is the way I was trained to cook.”

Jay Djong, chef at Hackettstown’s Thai eatery The Pandan Room, Moore Street, agrees. “Local vegetables are a big part of my menu,” he enthused. “I cook what I love, because even if no one else in the world liked it, I’d still know it was the best and I would eat it!” Current local-produce based specials at the Pandan Room include a kale curry, using, of course, local kale and sweet squash.

When it comes to the consumer end of the farm/restaurant/customer connection, David and Debora Meltz, avid restaurant-goers from Andover, say they, too, are in support of the Buy Fresh/Buy Local movement. “Dining out is about good food,” says Debora, “and by good we mean more than just how something tastes. It should also be good for the farmer, the workers, the community and the Earth. By patronizing restaurants that purchase their foods locally, we vote with our dollars and our forks for food that is good for everyone.” Dr. and Mrs. Meltz are regulars at Andre’s Restaurant on Spring Street in Newton.

“There is a golden opportunity in connecting local farmers with local restaurateurs,” stated Kevin Doell, chairman of Sustainable Blairstown. “Farmers are always looking for additional markets for their goods, and restaurants are in a perfect position to educate their customers about the value and benefits of eating locally grown food.”

Sustainable Blairstown created a factsheet/questionnaire for chefs and restaurant owners that includes a directory of local farms and farm markets, and asks about restaurant purchasing habits and preferences. The collected information will be shared with farmers, fostering communication between the two groups and reinforcing the farm/restaurant/consumer connection, which is the goal of this particular part of the Buy Fresh/Buy Local program. Another strategy toward this goal is obtaining the commitment of local restaurateurs to a minimum monthly purchase of $100 per month in local produce. In return the restaurants are given table and menu cards by the Foodshed Alliance, featuring the Buy Fresh/Buy Local logo, which proclaims to diners that restaurant’s loyalty to local farms.

“We urge diners to look for this logo and ask restaurants about their participation in the program,” said Doell. “In this way we want to emphasize the importance of making even small purchases. The patron is informed, and every little bit helps. A local restaurant can be a powerful player in the sustainability of a community— helping themselves, their customers, the farmers, the environment, and the local economy, all at once.”

Restaurants already committed to the Buy Fresh/Buy Local program include Buckwood Bistro of Knowlton, Pandan Room of Hackettstown, Gourmet Gallery of Blairstown, Andre’s of Newton, Sweet Jane’s of Johnsonburg, Metro Grill of Flanders, Vanilla Market of Allamuchy, Mama’s Pizza & Café Baci of Hackettstown, and Salt Gastropub of Byram.

All area restaurants and food purveyors are welcome to join the Foodshed Alliance and the Buy Fresh/Buy Local program by contacting the Foodshed Alliance online at foodshedalliance.org or calling 908-362-7967.