Lancaster Farm Fresh Cooperative

We started in 2006 with seven farmers. We didn’t know what our model was going to look like. We knew our farmers weren’t making ends meet so something had to change. We wanted to find a model supporting hyper local produce (within 20 miles) and we wanted to work with our farmer’s capacities of what they could produce.

Our farmers were running into each other at the same restaurants and cities trying to sell their product. The chefs didn’t want to buy eggplants and onions from one farmer because they were purchasing produce from the farmer’s neighbor! That’s when we decided on a co-op model and became Lancaster Farm Fresh Cooperative. Our farmers are the owners of the co-op which means they are invested.

Today we proudly support approximately 300 plus farmers a year consisting of both members and nonmembers. We are committed to organic practices and to cultivating rich, healthy soil which only continues to spread the goodness.

We are a farmer’s cooperative nonprofit – not a 501 (c3) nonprofit. This means any money made above and beyond overhead at the end of the year allows LFFC’s board of directors (comprised of member farmers) to decide where it goes – whether the money will be used for expansion or back to the individual farmers!