For Immediate Release
April 2, 2026
Elizabeth Lee, Executive Director
Cornell Cooperative Extension of Essex County
el677@cornell.edu | (518) 962-4810
LEWIS – Cornell Cooperative Extension of Essex County is excited to announce that we have received funding for the Adirondack Cuisine Trails and the International Tasting Trail from Adirondack Community Foundation’s Generous Acts program.
This project will support our Adirondack Harvest program as we work with the Regional Office of Sustainable Tourism to migrate the Adirondack Cuisine Trails to a new platform called Bandwango. The new platform will allow us to create a more robust user experience for the trails and this funding will help us bridge the Adirondack Cuisine Trails with the International Tasting Trail, a collaborative endeavor featuring regional partners in Vermont, Quebec, and Ontario. This partnership will direct more visitor traffic to our farms and cultivate more consumer awareness around sustainable agritourism.
“The agricultural community that we have here is profoundly unique and I can’t overstate how special it is to be surrounded by such an abundance of high-quality, clean food. This funding will help us showcase the incredible work our farmers are doing and also serve to elevate agriculture in the overall Adirondack visitor experience.” said Cole Trager, Agriculture & Local Food Team Leader at Cornell Cooperative Extension of Essex County.
The mission of Adirondack Harvest is to increase opportunities for profitable, sustainable production and sale of high-quality food and agricultural products and expand consumer choices for locally produced nutritious food. Adirondack Harvest’s work covers the greater Adirondacks and North Country region. In 2022, Cornell Cooperative Extension of Essex County approved a Farmland Protection and Food System Plan that directly outlined sustainable agritourism as a key impact area for our local farms. It is our privilege to continue this work through digital marketing, promotions, educational and agritourism events, resources for consumers – residents and tourists alike – through the Adirondack Harvest program.
The Generous Acts Grant from Adirondack Community Foundation allows us to continue these initiatives by supporting our work with the Adirondack Cuisine Trails and the International Tasting Trail. Adirondack Community Foundation is a force for good that pools gifts from generous donors who love the Adirondack region and care about our communities. The Foundation connects people, ideas, and resources to improve lives and expand opportunities throughout the Adirondack region. To learn more about the Generous Acts grant, please visit adkcommunityfoundation.org/GenerousActs.
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Questions can be directed to:
Elizabeth Lee, Executive Director
Cornell Cooperative Extension of Essex County
el677@cornell.edu | (518) 962-4810
