REAL Stories of the Land
 Agriculture isn’t just a means of producing food
for people to eat. It builds communities, sometimes in
unseen ways.
 Flinchbaugh’s farm market in York County, featured below,
sells the peaches and apples
that have made the farm famous.
But that’s not all it sells. Flinchbaugh’s market also features bottled-on-the farm
milk from Perrydell, another York County farm. And Flinchbaugh’s sells kale, lettuce
and spring onions from local farmer David Dietz. In turn, Perrydell and Dietz sell
Flinchbaugh produce at their retail stands.
Similar circles of agricultural-based reciprocity ripple
throughout the Lancaster-York Heritage Region, enabling
thousands of farmers to get their products to market
through a grassroots distribution effort that builds community
as well as the economy. |
The Flinchbaugh family features three generations
of farmers; each holds an agriculture or horticulture
degree from Penn State University and plans a
future maintaining the family farm tradition. 
City dwellers can get a taste of how life used to be
at Rocky Acre Farm, a 130-acre working dairy farm
in Mount Joy, Lancaster County. 
Established as a Community Supported Agriculture venture, Spoutwood Farm allows the public
to pre-purchase an annual share in the farmer’s harvest.
The farmer, assured of a sale, then concentrates
on implementing proven, earth-friendly agrarian techniques
that yield nutritious, healthy produce. 
Tom Perry says one thing makes his family’s
Perrydell Farm, in Leader Heights, York County, different
from other dairy producers: “We bottle our
own milk. That’s rare—not only in Pennsylvania but
across the nation.” 
Moon Dancer wine maker Jim Miller found
the perfect hybrid when he planted his vineyard
in 1998. Winemaking, for Jim, is the harmonious
blending of his two interests: a love of the outdoors
and business finance. 
Carr opened his market stand in 2005 as an offshoot
to his restaurant, located just across Market
Alley in the Hager Arcade building. He also has a
specialty grocery and organic foods store in Lancaster
County’s Manheim Township. 
