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Farms
Vegetable Farms
Kohser Farm - organic (not certified) vegetable farm located in Beaver County, Pennsylvania.
Don Glenn Farm - organic (not certified) vegetable farm located in Chester County, West Virginia
Joe D. Byler Farm - organic (not certified) vegetable farm located in Lawrence County, Pennsylvania.
Holbrook Farm - organic (not certified) vegetable farm located in Hancock County, West Virginia.
Brenckle Farm - organic (not certified) vegetable farm located in Beaver County, Pennsylvania.
Mose Byler Farm - organic (not certified) vegetable farm located in Lawrence County, Pennsylvania.
NuWay Farm - organic (not certified) vegetable farm located in Mercer County, Pennsylvania.
Hostetler Farm - vegetable farm located in Lawrence County, Pennsylvania.
Zacherl's Farm - vegetable farm located in Clarion County, Pennsylvania.
M.D. Baciani and Sons - mushroom producer located in Armstrong County, Pennsylvania.
Emanuel Kempf Farm - organic (not certified) vegetable farm located in Geauga County, Ohio.
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Fruit Farms
Apple Castle - fruit farm located in Lawrence County, Pennsylvania. They grow fruits using integrated pest management techniques. Vist them on the web at www.applecastle.com/
Sally's Cider Press - old fashioned cider press located in Butler County, Pennsylvania. They use ultraviolet light, not heat, to pastuerize their cider. This process retains the flavors of the locally grown apples they use when making the cider.
Dawson's Orchard - fruit farm located in Lawrence County, Pennsylvania. They grow fruits using integrated pest management techniques.
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Dairy Farms
Brunton Dairy - a family dairy located in Beaver County, Pennsylvania that raises grass-fed cows and bottles their own milk. Their milk contains no added hormones or antibiotics.
Middlefield Original Cheese Cooperative - a cooperative of Amish farms from Eastern Ohio and Western Pennsylvania that raise grass-fed cows and use their milk to make Northeast Pastures Artisan Cheese. Their cheese is pasteurized and contains no added hormones or antibiotics. Farmers from this group include the New Wilmington Family Farms.
Troyer Cheese Company - Amish family owned company located in Holmes County, Ohio that produces cheese as well as the Amish Roll Butter in our catalog. Their butter is made with pasteurized milk from Eastern Ohio dairy farms.
Seven Stars Farm - a family dairy located in Chester County, Pennsylvania that raises grass-fed milk. Their yogurt is certifed organic and contains no added hormones or antibiotics. Organic maple syrup, organic vanilla extract and cultures are the only additional ingredients added to our unhomogenized, pasteurized milk. We produce an old-fashioned, European-style yogurt that isn't for everyone. But for those of us who love it, it can be quite addictive!. Visit them on the web at www.sevenstarsfarm.com
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Meat Farms
McElhaney Family Farm - a family farm located in Beaver County, Pennsylvania that raises grass and forage fed shorthorn beef. Their steers are fed a corn-silage for 45 days before they are processed. Their beef contains no added hormones and is dry-aged for tenderness and flavor. Their beef is processed at a USDA inspected facility, vacuumed-sealed and frozen for retail sales. Visit them on the web at www.familyfarmbeef.com
Kohser Farm - Amish producers in Lawrence County produce pastured pork for Kohser Farm. Kosher Farm has the pork processed at a USDA inspected facility and packaged with Kohser Farm label. The pigs are fed local corn and their pork contains no added hormones (illegal by U.S. Department of Agriculture standards) or antibiotics.
Hearts Content Farm - a family farm located in Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania that raises grass and forage fed lamb. Their lamb contains no added hormones or antibiotics and is processed under PA Dept. of Agriculture inspection at their farm. Their lamb is wrapped and frozen for custom sales. Since these lambs are custom processed, each lamb must purchased by the customer before any animal is processed.
Jerome Szatkowski Farm - a family farm located in Hancock County, West Virginia that raise pastured poultry. Their chickens eat chicken feed and all the bugs they can find in their pastures.
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Bakery
Wood Street Bread Company - a family owned business in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania. They have been making artisan bread since 1996. Visit them on the web at www.woodstreetbread.com/
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Pantry
Many of the items in the pantry list are produced locally by Amish businesses in Holmes County, Ohio. Other items come from Amish businesses in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. A small number of the pantry items come from businesses outside our local area. Stateline Feed and Country Store located in Chester, West Virginia distributes all the pantry items for our Pittsburgh local food delivery service.
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Glossary of Farming Terms
The local farms listed above take the following principals seriously as stewards of their farm for their generation and future generations -
- Soil fertility - they maintain the long term fertility of the soil by helping worms, insects and other organisms to flourish. They add nitrogen naturally by planting cover crops and rest part of their land each year to improve its soil tilth for future plantings. Healthy soil means healthy plants!
- Rotating crops - they rotate the types of crops and animals in a field each year. This helps to keep the soil fertile and to prevent the build up of weeds, pests and diseases that can occur if the same crop is planted in the same field each year.
- Animal husbandry - they have high standards of animal welfare which take into consideration the natural behavior patterns of the animals. The animals range freely outdoors, they are fed on a natural diet and given proper veterinary treatment. Animals are also an important part of an integrated farming system as their manure fertilizes the fields whose grasses they feed upon.
- Protecting the environment - by reducing or avoiding the use of synthetic fertilizers, pesticides and herbicides, farmers who sell to Isidore Foods reduce pollution in the soil, waterways and the food chain. They encourage natural predators to help control pests rather than using chemicals. If necessary, they will spray their crops as part of their integrated pest management (IPM) system. No genetically modified (GM) crops or animal feed are permitted.
Vegetables and Fruits
Certified Organic: Federal as well as state regulations govern the use of the term “organic” in the marketplace. Vegetables and fruits sold as “organic” must be grown and handled in accordance with these regulations. Operations with more than $5,000 gross annual income from sales of organic products must have their production and handling methods certified by an officially recognized organic certification agency.
Organic food is produced without using most conventional pesticides; fertilizers made with synthetic ingredients or sewage sludge; bioengineering; or ionizing radiation.
Integrated Pest Management: Integrated Pest Management (IPM) is an effective and environmentally sensitive approach to pest management that relies on a combination of common-sense practices. IPM programs use current, comprehensive information on the life cycles of pests and their interaction with the environment. This information, in combination with available pest control methods, is used to manage pest damage by the most economical means, and with the least possible hazard to people, property, and the environment.
Eggs
Free-Range or Free-Roaming: The U.S. Department of Agriculture has not set standards for "free-range" egg production. Eggs purchased by Isidore Foods are from pastured chickens in warmer months and uncaged free range hens in colder months.
Milk, Meat and Poultry
Pasture-Raised and Grass-Fed: The animals have access to the outdoors and are able to engage in natural behaviors, such as grazing. However, neither stocking density, frequency, duration of outdoor access nor quality of the land is regulated. Producers must submit affidavits to the USDA that support their animal production claims to use these labels.
Hormone-Free, rBGH-Free, rBST-Free and No Hormones Added: Growth hormones are commonly used to speed growth in beef production. While the use of these hormones has been approved by federal regulatory groups, there is no scientific consensus about their long-term effects on the environment or on human health.
Producers may not legally give chickens or pigs hormones.
Grain-Fed or Corn-Fed: Ruminants do not naturally eat grain, and their stomachs are not designed to handle it. So, feeding them grain can cause liver abscesses and problems with lameness. In addition, cows raised on grain (especially corn) are higher in saturated fat and lower in omega-3 fats than cows raised on grass.
Thanks to China Millman for gathering some of these definitions while writing her article, "How Humane is Your Food?", which appeared March 2 2008 in the Pittsburgh Post Gazette.
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