Why CSA

For you non-vegan eaters out there, know that LFFC is committed to the strictest animal husbandry practices. All animal products offered through the Co-op are produced from animals who enjoy lush meadows, pasture rotation, humane lives, and GMO-free and Chemical-free supplemental feed. We’re also excited to offer Certified Organic chicken. Like any good relationship, we have much love and respect for our LFFC animals. Live happy!

Farming is a multi-generational tradition in our Lancaster County families—namely speaking to the farmers who make up our coop. Many of our member farmers would not have the opportunity to farm organically, or even keep their family’s land in the family, if it weren’t for the support that the Co-op provides. Of course, this includes all of our CSA shareholders and fellow organic enthusiasts! We, and this means all of us, are fortunate to be a part of the opportunity to maintain their multi-generational tradition of high-quality small scale farming on Lancaster’s high-quality soil!

Is the grocery store a begrudging and seemingly too frequent weekly errand? Return that cart and save the antibacterial wipe for someone else! Aside from lessened risk (so reputed of CSA programs) and heightened variety (sometimes lacking in smaller scale CSA experiences), something else that sets our CSA program apart from others is our online CSA store. Here, you can order additional items to be delivered with your shares each week. These additions include pantry items (various types of flour, maple syrup, fruit jam, applesauce), cheese (cow, goat, and sheep both pasteurized and not), local eggs, and even treats to suit meat eaters’ delights!

Despite produce signage in the grocery store, many times the fruits and veggies through which you meander are not fresh. Rather, these fruits, picked by underpaid laborers, are shipped long before peak ripeness, withstood chemical treatment, and endured weeks of travel time. No anomaly in the U.S., food travels an average of 1,500 miles from far out farms to your home’s plate which accounts for a large portion of the nation’s total carbon emissions. Unlike the vegetables you peruse in the grocery store, stacked high on sloping shelves with the overripened specimens closest to you, you receive your CSA share veggies a short 24-48 hours after harvest. LFFC believes in local. We only deliver to areas within a 150 mile radius. Hello, local! Hello, tasty! Hello, health!

Once a week, shareholders pick up their CSA share(s) at a regular, weekly, and convenient location of their choice. Many times our shareholders will choose their CSA pick up location based on their existing daily routines—be it near home, work, or play: yet another way to reduce food mileage! We CSA department teammates always enjoy hearing from site hosts and shareholders about friendships that develop through their pickup location by which the CSA becomes a new brand of social networking! We also find ourselves learning bushels of new recipes based on shareholders’ feedback and emails—even our own newsletters! There’s no telling what change a CSA share may inspire!

Welcome to some of the most nutrient-dense produce, dairy, meats, and other local goods Lancaster County and our close-by neighbors have to offer! By purchasing a CSA share, you’re doing two big things: 1) you’ve committed your household to eating seasonal, local, healthful, truthfully fresh, and Certified Organic vegetables–a pledge worth its weight in ethically-mined gold!; and 2) learning which fruit and vegetables actually grow, survive, and thrive in our region. Learn that the while the grocer may offer avocados and citrus in Pennsylvania, these goodies don’t actually grow here. Instead, why not enjoy a Kale Superfood salad in early spring?

The CSA team hears many confessions–veggie confessions, that is! We’re no strangers to hearing that former newbies, or haters, to red beets, kohlrabi, cardoons, radicchio, Jerusalem artichokes, and the like have now joined the ranks indulging in a broader spectrum of veggies beyond potatoes, carrots, and celery. This is just another exciting benefit of joining our CSA program because many of our farmers enjoy growing heirloom vegetable and fruit varieties. Break out those cook books and start reading those newsletters, folks!