Pennypack Farm & Education Center

Our 2017 CSA summer season is sold out, but please join our email list to get updates on classes, farmers market, and be the first to know about the next CSA season!

Guided by our mission and core values our organization works with children, families, community groups, environmental and educational institutions to encourage awareness, and the creation of sustainable local food systems by offering educational programs and a community supported agriculture demonstration project.

Pennypack Farm's agricultural systems strive to work in harmony with the natural environment and local economy.
• Transparency - Our agricultural operation is always open to CSA members and the general public to observe. Nothing is hidden.
• Practices - We do not use any GMO products, synthetic chemical herbicides or pesticides in growing our crops. We comply with Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture food safety standards.
• Quality of life - We seek to provide a meaningful and enjoyable experience for all employees and volunteers. This includes paying a livable wage and creating a harmonious work environment.
• Sustainability - We seek to minimize inputs and only buy local products. We do not distribute any of our products outside the local area. Excess produce is donated to local food banks.
• Accessibility - Our agriculture is practiced on a small scale that allows CSA members to fully participate and understand how their food is produced. Families and children are able to access the farm during routine operations.
• Food nutrition quality - As studies have shown that the nutritional content of fruits and vegetables has decreased by as much as 50 percent since World War II, we seek to put the nutrition back in the food. Our goal is to provide the highest quality food with the best possible nutritional quality. We do this through building soil quality by adding compost, animal manures, leaves, seaweed/fish fertilizer, rock powders and other mined minerals.
• Organic Certification - We have chosen not to pursue organic certification because it is, at best, a weak quality assurance stamp for food products whose end users are not familiar with how these products are grown and processed. The certification process is expensive. As all of our customers are local, they are able to observe and participate in our agricultural system and in the process become familiar with how our food is produced. Organic certification does not take into account the above five factors and therefore, does not go far enough. While it requires that no chemicals be sprayed on the crops, there are no restrictions on how much fossil fuel is used to produce, harvest, process and transport the food, how the soil is treated, what the nutritional quality of the food is, nor the quality of life or treatment of the workers.