Why I Joined The Farm to Table Movement

Many of those who know me know that I have become an adamant supporter of the farm-to-table movement.  I started on this journey several years ago.  Part of it was due to living in a rural community.  Our house is literally surrounded by farmland and open fields.  During the “season,” I can go around the corner to Juniperdale Farms Produce Crib or up the street to Mike’s Produce and get corn or berries that were picked that same morning.  We can get eggs that have been freshly laid. We can get tomatoes by the bushel to make gallons of homemade sauce.  In the fall, we drive 2 minutes to go on a hayride and pick pumpkins and gourds right from the field.  I wondered why I had not taken advantage of nature’s local bounty more often. 

I started to think, what else could I source locally.  Every October, Penn State Agricultural School sponsors the Open Gate Farm Tour.  This is a self-guided tour that points you to many of the local farms in the area.  This is how we discovered Klein’s Dairy Farm & Creamery.  This is a working farm where my kids could get up close and personal with the cows.  They got to see cows milked and fed.  They actually got to see a calf being born.  It was amazing for us grown-ups and the little people.  In addition to being able to walk the farm, they have an amazing retail store.  For the past 3 years or so, we have been going there weekly to buy fresh milk, eggs (when Juniperdale is out of stock), cheese, yogurt, and even freshly made ice cream.  I literally have not bought milk from the grocery store in over 3 years!

Now I felt like I was on to something.  I knew where to get veggies in season and where to get my dairy and eggs.  There had to be more out there, right?   There had to be a way to find a more extensive selection of veggies in season.  And what about meat?  Someone had to be raising meat locally that I could buy.  I turned to social media to help me find what I was looking for.  And man, did I strike gold.  I found Snouts and Sprouts Farm that was 90 minutes away, but they were offering a chicken CSA.  CSA stands for “Community Sponsored Agriculture.”  You basically buy a share of a farm’s crop or yield and are given a supply weekly or monthly, depending on the arrangement.  Once a month, we’d make the drive down to Chester County to pick up amazing, free-range chicken that was already portioned and frozen for our convenience.  It took a little getting used to how much smaller all-natural chicken was since it wasn’t pumped full of all those hormones!  To make it even more rewarding, we knew that our participation in this CSA helped a young family go from renting the land that they were farming, achieving their dream, and being able to purchase it.  They have now grown to the point that they are supplying the local Whole Foods with organic chicken to sell!

Facebook also led me to one of my greatest finds yet!  The Grubes love our red meat.  We have not met a steak that we didn’t love and my Mother-In-Law has the best recipe for beef cubes (we will talk about that in another post).  I came across a little farm about 25 minutes north of us in the Poconos called Moon Phase Ranch.  This is a Texas Longhorn cattle ranch owned by our now friends Aprill and Steve.  They farm cattle, both also work full-time, non-farm jobs.  As soon as we met them, we knew it would be a great relationship.  They took their time to explain to us the difference between Texas Longhorn beef and traditional beef.  They made recommendations on what we should buy based on our preferences and gave us lots of information on the nutritional benefits of their meat, as well as tips on how to prepare each cut.  We took home several packages of meat and have been loyal customers ever since.  In fact, this year just before the COVID shutdown, we purchase an entire cow from them, cut to our specifications.  It was such a great investment, we are already on the list to get another whole cow next month.  We have also referred several friends to Moon Phase Ranch for their beef needs.  On occasion, they also sell Berkshire pork, which we also buy from them.  So delish and so worth the money.

Last, but definitely not least, is one of my favorite local meat spots called Nello’s Specialty Meats.  I had driven past this place a million times and did not even know it was there.  Their retail shop sits at the end of a long driveway right next to their house.  It is very unassuming, but you are in for a surprise when you go there.  Not only do they source most of their meats from local farms, but they also have all of the cuts of beef, chicken, and pork that you might need.  In addition to their retail store, they also process meat for many local farmers (including Aprill and Steve from Moon Phase Ranch) and they are suppliers to many restaurants as far away as New York City.  In fact, much of the yumminess that they post on Facebook is done for their private customers and not sold in their retail store.  One of my favorite things about them is they have their own in-house charcuterie.  They have some of the best salamis and sausages that I have ever tasted, and they’ve won several awards.  And depending on when you go, you may bump into Nello himself, or his lovely wife Jan.  They are definitely a gem in the neighborhood.  

And the last thing I want to talk about briefly is our vegetable CSA.  Again, this is where we have purchased a share of a farm crop for the growing season.  The first share comes in mid-June and the last share comes in mid-October.  We get a supply of fresh veggies every Friday and it is wonderful.  The vegetable CSA deserves a blog post of its own since there is so much to talk about.  There is such a variety of vegetables and lots to know in order to decide if a veggie CSA is for you.  We will talk about that next time.  Now let me go figure out what is for dinner tonight!