Penn's Corner Offers New Collection Site For Farm Fresh Foods

From the farm to your dinner plate, a Pittsburgh-based farm share is bringing locally harvested food to a new pickup location in the heart of .

, an organic eatery and marketplace at 428 Beaver St., has agreed to serve as a drop-off location for Penn’s Corner Farm Alliance.

“It’s just a great cause,” said store owner Chris Bonfili. “I really want to support the small farmers of Western Pennsylvania because there are such great farmers out there.”

Established in 1999, Penn's Corner is a farmer cooperative in southwestern Pennsylvania that offers fresh, quality direct-to consumer perishables that are ready to eat.

“The vast majority [of farms] are within an hour of Pittsburgh...it’s truly local and regional membership,” said Karlin Lamberto, manager for the Penn's Corner Farm Alliance Community Supported Agriculture program.

Membership includes 30 family farms that range from cheese makers to cattle farms. The members own Penn’s Corner, Lamberto said.

The way it works is CSA members sign up for a share, and throughout the growing season they are delivered boxes of fresh, locally grown produce from the various member farms that are picked up at locations throughout the Pittsburgh area.

Lamberto said items are harvested and packed the day before delivery so everything is fresh and in-season.

What comes in the box essentially depends on the crop season. In early spring for instance, members can see cheeses, eggs and plenty of greens such as chard, mustard and greenhouse greens. Members in the spring and summer can look forward to storage apples, apple cider, potatoes, onions, corn, peppers and tomatoes.

When autumn arrives, Lamberto said boxes typically contain generous amounts of winter squash, rutabagas, beets, turnips and other roots. Boxes do not include meats, though choice-grade beef, grass-fed pork and various other meats are available Mondays at one of three farm stands in Squirrel Hill, Mt. Lebanon and Lawrenceville. 

Deliveries take place all over Pittsburgh, but B Gourmet is the closest drop-off site for the North Hills area.

“Sewickley in general is an area that is underserved by CSA. Here in the city of Pittsburgh, you can get a CSA fairly easily from a number of farms,” Lamberto said.

In searching for new locations, Lamberto said Penn’s Corner looks to garner enough interest to make the location worthwhile. She said the owners of B Gourmet, Chris and his wife, Jennifer Bonfili, are longtime customers who offered their store.

"It's a good location for us," Lamberto said. 

The store also carries products from area farms, including non-homogenized milk with a cream top from a New Castle farm. Besides supporting the farmers, Bonfili said he hopes to educate people about local produce that is readily available and much easier to get.

“Five years ago to get an assortment of local produce you would have to go to two or three farmers markets to get what you will get through the CSA,” he said.

Bonfili plans to offer cooking classes using items such as eggplant or turnips that might be offered in the boxes.

“There is going to be produce in there they don’t necessarily know how to use, different vegetables. It almost forces you to use some things you might not be comfortable using,” he said.  

Penn's Corner started as a wholesale business working with higher-end restaurants, but the community-supported agriculture program has mushroomed overtime. Restaurants, store fronts and schools tend to serve as pickup sites. There are locations as far south as Whitehall and north to Cranberry, where Westinghouse is the pickup site for a large group of members.

If you plan to become a CSA member, Lamberto said it's best to sign up now.

“Once shares are sold out we don’t add anymore. It’s kind of on a rolling basis, depending on how quickly they are selling out,” Lamberto said.

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CSA Membership

 for the spring CSA share are open with availability on a first-come first-serve basis.

To sign up click here, or visit www.pennscorner.com for more information. A detailed brochure is also attached to this article. Brochures are also available at B Gourmet.

The next full season is 32 weeks long and begins in mid-April. Pickups are every Wednesday, and the season ends just before Thanksgiving. 

Members who can’t do the 32-week Farmers Share can opt for the first 24-week Harvest Share or eight-week Cabin Fever share.