It’s syrup time. Taps went into trees a little earlier this year. Tree Juice is now offering a CSA.

There are many maple syrup producers in the Catskills and some of them welcome visitors. It’s worth paying more for local sugar and seeing how it’s made. Some of the modern equipment is more complicated that customers realize. Farmers and producers use miles of tubing to collect the sap. Syrup is produced by condensing the sap and 50-60 gallons of maple sap yield one gallon of syrup. It’s completely organic.

If you buy maple syrup instead of buying foreign sugar, the local economy of the North Eastern US, where billions of gallons of syrup are produced every year, will benefit by 5-7 times the value of your purchase: meaning if you spend one dollar in yours or our local community on maple syrup, the benefit to the community will be five to seven dollars. So the $30 spent on the Tree Juice (pictured above) has a local value of $150-210. Vly Creek Maple syrup is $10 for 250 ml or 8.5 fluid ounces.

More facts about maple syrup:

– no artificial colouring, flavouring, preservatives or additives
– same calcium concentration as milkNew Yo
– contains folic acid, biotin and niacin, which convert proteins and sugars to energy
– virtually sodium-free
– encourages growth and production of red blood cells
– has no fat and no proteins and is a good source of calcium, iron and thiamin

New York State is the third largest maple syrup producer in the world, but has a marketing problem. People in New York City see Canadian maple syrup on the shelves more than New York State maple syrup. If you live in New York City, there’s no reason to buy Canadian maple syrup. Buy local sugar.