Pennsylvania is a vegetable powerhouse and we must continue to celebrate the people and bounty that make it so.

Pennsylvania Vegetables is one way to do just that. This e-cookbook, brought to you by the Pennsylvania Vegetable Marketing & Research Program aims to feature recipes, messages, videos, tips, instructions and other interactive content from all walks of the local food chain - farmers, chefs, nutritionists, bloggers, enthusiasts, hobbyists, groups, organizations, kids, consumers, you name it.

Pennsylvania Vegetables will focus on enjoying seasonal goods in and around August, which PA Veggies celebrates annually as PA Produce Month.

This collaborative project aims to engage the entire Keystone State, and inspire you to ooze with PA pride, have fun in the kitchen, gather with friends, meet your farmers, and support the businesses and individuals who keep our local vegetable chain alive and well.

You can support this cookbook and the Pennsylvania vegetable industry by requesting a free digital copy and by submitting original content of your own to be featured in the final product. This could include, but is not limited to:

• Recipes: Must be original and include local vegetables but does not have to be exclusively PA vegetables in season, in August. Feel free to submit more than one.

• Preserving/Canning Instructions: Let the organization know what you do to ensure enjoyment of PA vegetables all year long. Salsa? Frozen corn? Storage crops?

• Cooking and/or Preparation Tips: Don’t have a full recipe but you’re a huge fan of, for example, spiralizing zucchini? Let them know how you do it and why you love it.

• Shoutout: Live in PA and simply want to write a message or compile a video proclaiming your love for local? Maybe give your favorite farmer or chef a shoutout?

• Feel Good Stories: Food connects us all. Do you hold a food-related memory close to your heart? Share it!

All submissions will be entered in a drawing (one entry per person) where one winner will be selected as the recipient of a $100 Visa Gift Card.

The Pennsylvania Vegetable Marketing and Research Program, also known as PA Veggies, created this cookbook and operates in the best interest of Pennsylvania vegetable growers by: 1) acting as their brand ambassador toward consumers; 2) funding and overseeing valuable research; 3) offering marketing support to individuals and businesses within the PA vegetable realm.

Deadline to send an entry is July 15 by visiting www.paveggies.org/contribute-to-the-pennsylvania-vegetables-e-cookbook.

To request a free copy of the e-cookbook, visit https://lp.constantcontactpages.com/su/S1Q7Wzx/paveggiescookbook