Lancaster Farm Fresh Co-op gives members access to nutritious produce and other small- batch products.

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March 9, 2018

As you may have noticed, we’ve had a good number of new products lately, specifically in the produce department. This is due to the farmer’s new partnership with the Lancaster Farm Fresh Co-op (LFFC), a non-profit cooperative of over 100 small farmers from Lancaster County, PA, many of them living the Amish culture. We are so thankful to have this resource to connect our members with even more food produced on highly maintained and nutrient-rich soil.

The farmer has always wanted to offer his members a wider selection of produce. But, the farmer and his wife have never been able to adequately maintain their own garden on top of all the other farm chores. The LFFC partnership allows the farmer to not only sell quality produce to members but also support fellow small-scale farms focused on sustainability and the humane treatment of animals.

Lancaster County soil is considered some of the best agricultural land in the country. You simply can’t produce food like this in other parts of the country – it is the most nutrient-dense possible. LFFC farmers take pride in maintaining the health and quality of their soil to preserve this reputation for future generations. LFFC choose to work cooperatively together to enhance the health of the communities around them as well as the health of the land that we live on.

LFFC provides fresh, naturally-grown fruit, vegetables, and other farm fresh products. Most of them are even certified organic. So far, the farmer is offering LFFC’s fresh apples, carrots, beets, onions, radishes, sweet potatoes, and Jerusalem artichokes. He is also offering its lemonade, iced teas, Good Mood cold pressed juice, kombucha infused with elderberries, and strawberry jam.

I love celebrating ingredients and usually prepare only a few at a time to let their inherent flavors sing. Last night, I braised some country ribs and accompanied them with some easy roasted root veggies from LFFC. Roasting veggies is super simple and takes maybe 10 minutes to prep. The basic idea is to bake veggies with a fat and a seasoning. I tossed largely chopped beets, carrots, and onions with lard, salt, and pepper. Then, I roasted the veggies covered for 60 minutes in a 350 F oven. I removed the cover and baked an additional 20-30 minutes to crisp the veggies up.

Farm Updates

Produce

Ugh greenwashed labels. What does it take to get ___ on a label anyway?

Not a fan of the confusing, greenwashed labels in store? Yea, me too! And it's especially real for me, because I'm responsible for getting our labels approved with the "powers that be". Here's a little story with a big inside scoop... I made new labels for our bone broth a little while ago. It didn't go as smoothly as planned. Why? I put the little icons about our farming practices on them. They look like this: Yup, despite being 100% accurate and true, they were denied!! We're not allowed to put those statements on our food labels. So, I asked the USDA guy, "What would it take to get those claims on the labels, anyway?" The answer was kinda shocking. First off, there's some guidance on wording. Silly technicalities in my opinion. For example, you can't use the term "No Spray" but you can say "Produced without the use of synthetic pesticides." Or another example is that you can't say "No Routine Antibiotics or Vaccines" but you can say "Raised without routine use of antibiotics or vaccines." Second, the processor needs to update their documents to provide traceability. In other words, they need to document how they make sure the bones for our bone broth don't get mixed up with bones from other farms. I mean, this is pretty simple, especially with small batch foods like ours. But the documentation needs to be meticulous. Drafting it in government-approved language can be time consuming and/or costly. And lastly, once you get the wording and process right, you need proof. This was the real shocker for me: Want to know what proof would suffice for all the claims above? A 2-3 sentence affidavit (AKA a super short letter) signed by all farmers that supply us. That's it!? This lead me to a bunch of questions: What if a company submits a letter from one farmer but actually has other farmers that supply them, too? What if a company changes farmers? Will they submit new letters?What if a company's farmers change their practices in the future? Will they immediately update their labels?Are the "powers that be" checking on this? Is anyone checking on this?Is this why most farms and food facilities don't allow outside people coming in? It seems to me that, if a business isn't doing what the label says, the only way to find out is via a whistleblower. And the only way to make them stop is to take them to court. You know, like what's happening with Vital Farms and their pasture raised egg claim right now. It seems to me that, all that good natural stuff on labels - grass fed, pasture raised, antibiotic free, etc - doesn't mean it's true. Certifications are a little better, but the same kinda thing can be said about those, too. This is why, at Miller's, we choose to NOT sell in stores. No wholesale for us. In fact, we don't even have an on farm store. We only sell directly to our customers via our website. And, we choose to only get certified for what's required. This way, we can make our own natural standards. And, we can provide you will all the info and proof you need. Descriptions, photos, blog posts, test results, and more. So, what do you think? Should we do the affidavit thing to get claims on our bone broth labels? What proof do you need to feel confident in your food choices? I'd love to hear from you. Comment below (no account required - just start typing) or contact us 😊

Should I choose animal rennet or vegetable rennet in my natural cheese?

Let’s take a look at what rennet is and why it’s used in cheesemaking, compare the different types of animal and vegetable rennets, check out the labeling requirements for rennet, and consider the potential health consequences. Keeping all this in mind, Miller’s Bio Farm aims to produce the most nutrient-dense, natural, A2/A2 cheese we can and gives you all the info you need to make the choice that’s best for your body!

Is yolk color is no longer a great indicator of the egg's nutrition?

It used to be true that, if your egg yolks were darker in color, then the better the egg's nutrition. Conscious consumers of the past would look for that deep orange yolk and stray away from lighter yellow yolks. It's sad, but this simply isn't the case anymore. Here's why you can't trust cheap store-bought eggs with orange yolks and need to know your farmer instead.

Lancaster Farm Fresh Co-op gives members access to nutritious produce and other small- batch products.

More from the blog

Ugh greenwashed labels. What does it take to get ___ on a label anyway?

Should I choose animal rennet or vegetable rennet in my natural cheese?

Is yolk color is no longer a great indicator of the egg's nutrition?

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Miller's Bio Farm, 523 Valley Road, Quarryville, PA 17566