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Bird-in-Hand is home to some of the best farm fresh produce and farm-to-table dining experiences in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania
Farm-to-table has become a national trend, encouraging people to seek out locally grown dairy, meats, and produce for their personal use. In some areas, the trend is apparent at the local grocer, and many locales are now offering farm-to-table dining experiences. In other areas, such as Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, farm-to-table is a way of life that dates back to early settlers and continues to this day.
What is Farm-to-Table?
The phrase “farm-to-table” includes the entire process of growing, cultivating, transporting and preparing foods of all kinds, especially dairy, fruits, meat, and produce. It speaks not only of the quality of the food, but how the food was grown, how the animals are treated and what they are fed, and even how the food is handled after it is harvested. When you select vegetables or fruit at a farmer’s market, you are participating in the farm-to-table adventure. But your local grocer is also a source of locally produced foods, including large chain stores and small privately-owned markets.
Farm-to-Table Makes a Difference
Participating in the farm-to-table movement has a number of benefits for you and your community. In addition to providing you with first-hand knowledge of where the foods you eat are coming from, the advantages include:
- Supports Local Farmers: When grocers and restaurants join forces with local farmers, it is good for the local economy. Farm-to-table often means that foods are more environmentally friendly and sustainable because there are fewer costs associated with packaging, storing and transporting.
- A Healthier Option: Not all foods are created equal. As anyone who has grown tomatoes at home can tell you, those fresh-off-the-plant vegetables look more appetizing. But they often contain more vitamins and minerals, as well, due to the less industrialized system of growing and processing.
- Freshness and Taste: Plant-based foods that have to be transported over long distances have to be picked before they are fully ripe and are sometimes treated with chemicals that slow down the ripening process and alter the texture and taste.
Farm-to-Table in Bird-in-Hand, PA
Bird-in-Hand is a small rural community in Lancaster Country, with well-spaced farmsteads, well-established orchards, and everything most of us have come to associate with country living. Whether dining at a restaurant or shopping at a local farmer’s market, a few of the farmers who provide their bounty for your enjoyment include:
- John & Myrna Smucker: Local providers of angus beef
- Smucker Farms: Family owned and operated farm producing eggs and grain
- Oasis at Bird-in-Hand: A real live food cooperative of Amish farmers producing a variety of organic dairy products from grass-fed cows.
- Kauffman’s Fruit Farm: Specializing in apples and peaches
- Brecknock Orchards: Known for their blackberries, raspberries, and strawberries
- Aiden & Miriam Hoover: Local producers of peaches and watermelons
- Sylvan Fisher: Growing sweet corn, tomatoes and the autumn pumpkin patch
- Isaac & Rebecca Huyard: Providing a trove of vegetables, from lettuce and green peppers to beans, peas, potatoes and squash
- Groff Meats - Producers of quality pork, beef tips and more
- Esbenshade Turkeys: A local specialist in turkey farming
In the community of Bird-in-Hand, PA, the Smucker family operates the Bird-in-Hand Corporation, consisting of several lodging properties, a local theatre and offers farm-to-table dining options at the Bird-in-Hand Family Restaurant & Smorgasbord and the Bird-in-Hand Bakery & Cafe. Their ingredients come from local farmers, such as those mentioned in this article, and are prepared fresh in-house. At Bird-in-Hand, farm-to-table is a chosen way of life and a healthier, tastier way to dine. Each summer, they host the Cornfield Banquet, an evening of farm fresh food served amongst rows of corn along with family fun activities and music around the bonfire.
Bird-in-Hand / 717-768-8271 / bird-in-hand.com
