Lancaster Farm Fresh Cooperative
Organic produce, IPM fruit, grass-based hormone & antibiotic free milk and dairy products, cheeses including cave-aged cheeses, Pequea Valley yogurts, pastured poultry, eggs, ground beef
Lancaster Farm Fresh is a cooperative of organic farmers in Lancaster County, the majority of whom are Old Order Amish or Mennonite. In the upcoming season, the number of participating farmers will nearly double to around 30, which shows just how beneficial this sort of arrangement can be for small family farms.
Lancaster Farm Fresh got its start about 7 years ago as Farm Fresh for Chefs with a much smaller group of Amish families who all lived within a 10-mile radius of one another southeast of Lancaster, PA. The coop was founded after one of the farmers was turned on to a direct marketing approach by his veterinarian. The approach turned out to be very successful and allowed all the farms involved to become more financially viable. While it began with only restaurant sales, the coop moved on to also supply small retail stores and its own CSA.
Recently, the coop expanded yet again when its president decided to try to bring more vegetable growers into the cooperative. This was a big step, as it meant the original farmers would turn their customers over to the larger cooperative. Things have gone extremely well, however, and the shift meant bringing on two new employees, a Coop Manager and an Administrator. These folks, Casey and Amy, are responsible for making the connections between farmers and consumers and for handling the finances of the cooperative. This arrangement means that the farmers can focus on what they do best, while Casey handles communications that used to be complicated and time-consuming for the Old Order Amish and Mennonite families who do not have a telephone in their home.
For one of these farmers, Aaron Stoltzfus, who is also the deliveryperson for Farm Fresh, farming is not only a nice way to make a living, but it also provides a way to keep his family together. His Amish Mennonite family raises poultry and beef and dairy cattle for the cooperative. Since choosing a direct marketing approach, Aaron has diversified his farm as he’s realized there is a demand for a wider array of products, such as duck. Direct marketing has also meant embracing new enterprises, such as cheesemaking. Not only are such value-added ventures often more profitable for small farms, but Aaron also enjoys seeing all the different things you can do with your products – for him, watching his milk be turned into cheese and yogurt.
Most dairy farmers in the Lancaster area still send their milk away on a tank truck to a large processing plant, and their meat away to a slaughterhouse. With this approach to farming, Aaron notes that there are fewer farmers now than there were in the 1970s, and that this method of farming is due for a change. Since he’s joined Farm Fresh, he’s begun to see a future for small family farms in a different approach, one where connections are drawn and links made between farmers and consumers. As more and more people want products that are raw, hormone-free, and directly off the farm, this approach to farming will prove financially profitable for family farmers. He admits that this change won’t happen overnight, and along the way, some people will still have to get out of farming. Problems such as new permit regulations will serve as bumps in the road; most farmers aren’t interested in spending the money required to get a permit from the state for products such as raw milk. Aaron had his own challenges and learning curve to face when he transitioned away from using herbicides and pesticides 10-12 years ago. However, the Farm Fresh Coop’s success has proven that farms can weather that transition period and, in the end, come out ahead with an approach to farming that could offer the next generation a financially feasible way to continue farming. Casey, as well, is optimistic that a future will emerge where family farms will sell within their own local communities, our food dollars will go to these families rather than large corporations and oil companies, and consumers will receive healthier, more nutrient-rich food. In this scenario, accountability will be returned to our food system, and the hidden costs of corporate food that is now the norm will be removed.
