Farm Visits Help Customers Appreciate Quality - Lancaster Farming

GIBSONIA, Pa. ? In an attempt to connect people with the farmers who grow and raise their food, the Pennsylvania Association for Sustainable Agriculture (PASA) recently put together two farm tours, one on Sept. 10 for the Northwest region ? Erie, Crawford, Jefferson, Mercer and Beaver counties ? and another on Sept. 17 for the Southwest region ? Allegheny, Washington and Westmoreland counties.

?We have been raising beef cattle for 40 years and had a retail market for the past 15 years,? said Kim Guthrie, co-owner of Mish Farms Meat Market in Gibsonia, one of the stops on the tour.

?A couple of years ago, we started participating in the farm tour because it is a good avenue for showing people what we do and allows people to see the farm and the business up close,? Guthrie said. ?That helps them understand the work that goes into raising animals and vegetables, and also helps them appreciate the quality products farmers produce.?

Another stop on the tour was Harvest Valley Farms in Valencia. Owned by Larry, Art and David King, Harvest Valley Farms is a diverse, sustainable farm growing 140 acres of small fruits and vegetables.

?Our farm is in its fourth generation of operation,? Art King said, ?and we have been strictly producing fruit and vegetables since 1982. We grow everything from apples to zucchini, including several varieties of cherry tomatoes. We also gather honey from the bees that pollinate our crops.

?We got involved with the farm tours because we wanted to draw in new customers, but also because we feel it is important that people learn more about how food is grown in Southwestern Pennsylvania,? King said.

At Harvest Valley Farms, those methods vary. The Kings use high tunnel greenhouses, raised beds and tomato tubs to produce their vegetables, which are marketed at several area farmers markets and through their CSA.

They say their desire to run a sustainable agriculture operation plays into all their business decisions.

?We are a small diversified farm located very close to every location where we sell, so we are able to take out the middle men of the produce industry,? King said. ?This allows us to spend more time and money on the use of sustainable farming practices that we believe are ethically correct for future farming and consumer-based lifestyles.

?For example, we hire local high school and college students, have a four-year crop rotation on all fields to suppress diseases and pests, and sell all of our produce within a 25 mile radius,? King said..

?We also purchase as much of our supplies from locally owned businesses as possible, and carefully choose what pesticides and fertilizers that we use. We use as many organically certified ones that we can, and apply only what is needed when absolutely needed in order to produce a quality product,? he said.

?In addition, we utilize consistent soil management practices. This includes the use of green manure, organic material amendments, wet lime, crop rotation, heavy mulching and less tillage, ? King said. ?A properly managed soil structure is the most important part of growing healthy vegetables. Through the continuous use of these sustainable? practices, we can offer our customers fresh, nutritious, local and healthy produce.?

According to Alissa Matthews, who works with PASA as an outreach assistant for the Western Pennsylvania Buy Fresh Buy Local Program, those practices mesh well with PASA?s vision.

?PASA?s consistent vision has been to transform agriculture and food systems in Pennsylvania and beyond in a way that makes farmers more viable, improves the land and produces healthy food for all people while respecting the natural environment,? Matthews said. ?These farm tours directly connect people with the source of their food and help facilitate a closer relationship between farmers and consumers.?

An added advantage of shopping locally is the benefit to the local community.

Laurel Rush, an agricultural technician with the Greene County Conservation District agrees.

?The average tomato travels 1,200 miles to market,? Rush said. ?With fuel prices, it is an unsustainable practice. It also drives the cost of the product up.

?Purchasing products from your local farmer means that you are getting a fresher product at a lower cost, and are helping your dollars recirculate through the local economy,? Rush said.

?When you get to know your farmer, you get to know how your food was grown,? added King. ?You feel more confident about eating his product. Plus, the freshness that comes with buying locally means the taste of your food is better, too.?

Source: http://www.lancasterfarming.com/-Farm-Visits-Help-Customers-Appreciate-Quality-

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