This is a good list for anyone to begin with, and we will suggest that once you begin taking this on, you will notice how many things are local, and how many things are coming from large companies. When looking for local foods, the frozen foods are usually packaged in clear bags. We are completely amazed at how many foods are local at both Stager’s in Portage, Pa, and at Market Basket along Scalp Avenue, Johnstown. At Stager’s, you can find the biggest spread of Bell-View products we have ever seen, and at both locations you can find Pierogies from That Pierogi Place, Mrs. C’s pizza and pizza crust from Mrs. C’s and Punky’s Pizza, local butter and canned goods. The vegetables and fruits are not marked, and that is why we suggest buying fresh in the summer. We found local frozen veggies and beans at Stager’s recently, and would opt with those throughout the winter if you do not do your own storing.
Additional Local products:
Steel City Mustard (from Pittsburgh)
Rizzo’s Ravioli (and other things like gnocchi)
Weis brand
Furmano’s Pizza Sauce
Ronzoni (whole wheat pastas)
Monday, February 2, 2009
Condiments, Sauces, Beverages, and others
Condiments, Sauces, Beverages, and others
Many condiments are not made locally (olives are not grown anywhere in the Untied States) and a lot of spices generally do not come from here, so buying from a local grocery and from local distributors like Bell-View which can be found in almost every store around here. Bell-View provides many things from olives and mild pepper rings to mustard and hot sauce. We have yet to find a local brand of ketchup, Heinz just isn’t local anymore. We recommend making you own ketchup. This is easily done with many recipes available anywhere; books, the internet, or old family recipes. Kountry Pantry (yes again) sells many spices in bulk as well as some locally made peanut butter.
· Anthony’s brand spaghetti sauce is made locally in Johnstown. We have only seen it at Giant Eagle and Stager’s, as far as stores go, but you can luckily buy it straight from Meatballs on Scalp Avenue by Anthony’s restaurant. DelGrosso pasta sauce is from Tipton, Pa. and is readily available. They also sell a black and white label “Spaghetti Sauce,” which is distributed by DG Foods in Tipton.
· Craig’s Jones’en Espresso Barbecue Sauce. Created by young chef and entrepreneur Craig Jones from Johnstown. Interestingly enough, he splits his time between Johnstown and Detroit where he works at Wolfgang Puck Grille in MGM Grand, but he plans to keep on marketing his sauce and developing new flavors. Sold at Market Basket.
· The Village Street Café on the corner of Grove Village Street in Moxham is a great place to get coffee to drink there or to take home by the pound. They also make their own food and strive to buy locally. Next door is a locally owned tea shop called Tea Fancies.
· Maple syrup made in Somerset County is available the Hollsopple Feed Mill (see eggs section for contact info), Davidsville Hardware, and from local farmers
· Two places to get local honey are:
o A Bee Company
509 Third Avenue
Hastings Pa, 16646
To order – 84-247-9934
Open year round daily
o Local Raw Honey
814-266-1234
· Hershey’s Chocolate is not made locally anymore, so we buy chocolate from O’Shea’s which can be found in the Geistown Cloverleaf Shopping Plaza, which is off of Bedford Street in Johnstown, Pa or in the Westwood Plaza in Westmont. Blaine Boring’s Chocolates is located at 123 Market Street in Johnstown.
· College Farm Organic from Elizabethtown, PA can be located for local candy and cough drops! See their website: www.SimonCandyShop.com for details!
· There are over 70 breweries in the state of Pennsylvania. Many are within 200 miles of here. While Rolling Rock has left the area, we still have Iron City in Pittsburgh, Straub is located in St. Mary’s (whose beer contains no sugar, salt, or preservatives) and has recently released Peter Straub’s Special Dark which is lager on par with Yuengling, which is in Pottsville. Yuengling is good and still technically local, but have branched to Florida and we would rather put more towards the smaller local places. There are also craft breweries in Duncansville, Harrisburg, and Lancaster to name a few more.
Many condiments are not made locally (olives are not grown anywhere in the Untied States) and a lot of spices generally do not come from here, so buying from a local grocery and from local distributors like Bell-View which can be found in almost every store around here. Bell-View provides many things from olives and mild pepper rings to mustard and hot sauce. We have yet to find a local brand of ketchup, Heinz just isn’t local anymore. We recommend making you own ketchup. This is easily done with many recipes available anywhere; books, the internet, or old family recipes. Kountry Pantry (yes again) sells many spices in bulk as well as some locally made peanut butter.
· Anthony’s brand spaghetti sauce is made locally in Johnstown. We have only seen it at Giant Eagle and Stager’s, as far as stores go, but you can luckily buy it straight from Meatballs on Scalp Avenue by Anthony’s restaurant. DelGrosso pasta sauce is from Tipton, Pa. and is readily available. They also sell a black and white label “Spaghetti Sauce,” which is distributed by DG Foods in Tipton.
· Craig’s Jones’en Espresso Barbecue Sauce. Created by young chef and entrepreneur Craig Jones from Johnstown. Interestingly enough, he splits his time between Johnstown and Detroit where he works at Wolfgang Puck Grille in MGM Grand, but he plans to keep on marketing his sauce and developing new flavors. Sold at Market Basket.
· The Village Street Café on the corner of Grove Village Street in Moxham is a great place to get coffee to drink there or to take home by the pound. They also make their own food and strive to buy locally. Next door is a locally owned tea shop called Tea Fancies.
· Maple syrup made in Somerset County is available the Hollsopple Feed Mill (see eggs section for contact info), Davidsville Hardware, and from local farmers
· Two places to get local honey are:
o A Bee Company
509 Third Avenue
Hastings Pa, 16646
To order – 84-247-9934
Open year round daily
o Local Raw Honey
814-266-1234
· Hershey’s Chocolate is not made locally anymore, so we buy chocolate from O’Shea’s which can be found in the Geistown Cloverleaf Shopping Plaza, which is off of Bedford Street in Johnstown, Pa or in the Westwood Plaza in Westmont. Blaine Boring’s Chocolates is located at 123 Market Street in Johnstown.
· College Farm Organic from Elizabethtown, PA can be located for local candy and cough drops! See their website: www.SimonCandyShop.com for details!
· There are over 70 breweries in the state of Pennsylvania. Many are within 200 miles of here. While Rolling Rock has left the area, we still have Iron City in Pittsburgh, Straub is located in St. Mary’s (whose beer contains no sugar, salt, or preservatives) and has recently released Peter Straub’s Special Dark which is lager on par with Yuengling, which is in Pottsville. Yuengling is good and still technically local, but have branched to Florida and we would rather put more towards the smaller local places. There are also craft breweries in Duncansville, Harrisburg, and Lancaster to name a few more.
Grains
Grains
· That Pierogi Place
1283 Solomon St,
Johnstown, Pa 15902
These can be found at some local grocery stores, Giant Eagle, Stager’s, Market Basket
· Rizzo’s pasta products, Stager’s
· Pizza Crusts—Punky’s Pizza (Johnstown) , Mrs. C’s (South Fork)
Can be purchased at Market Basket and Stager’s.
· Kountry Pantry
2597 Lincoln Highway
Stoystown, Pa
This is a great place to buy bulk grains and pasta.
· Baker’s Loaf (bread)
1073 Franklin Street
Johnstown, Pa 15905
814-539-0788
· Conzatti’s Market (breads and pastas)
1250 Scalp Avenue
Johnstown, Pa 15904
814-266-3356
· Frankferd Farms Foods, Inc
717 Saxonburg Blvd
Saxonburg, Pa 16056
724-352-9500
-Place to order local flour, grains, frozen dough, and bread among other great natural and local products
· That Pierogi Place
1283 Solomon St,
Johnstown, Pa 15902
These can be found at some local grocery stores, Giant Eagle, Stager’s, Market Basket
· Rizzo’s pasta products, Stager’s
· Pizza Crusts—Punky’s Pizza (Johnstown) , Mrs. C’s (South Fork)
Can be purchased at Market Basket and Stager’s.
· Kountry Pantry
2597 Lincoln Highway
Stoystown, Pa
This is a great place to buy bulk grains and pasta.
· Baker’s Loaf (bread)
1073 Franklin Street
Johnstown, Pa 15905
814-539-0788
· Conzatti’s Market (breads and pastas)
1250 Scalp Avenue
Johnstown, Pa 15904
814-266-3356
· Frankferd Farms Foods, Inc
717 Saxonburg Blvd
Saxonburg, Pa 16056
724-352-9500
-Place to order local flour, grains, frozen dough, and bread among other great natural and local products
Animal Products--Meat, Eggs, and Dairy
Animal Products – Meat, Eggs, and Dairy
Meat
· Froehlich’s
77 D Street Extension
Johnstown, PA
814-535-7694
· Kountry Pantry
2597 Lincoln Highway
Stoystown, PA
814-629-1588
(Also a place to buy Peanut Butter packaged in Pennsylvania!)
· Ye Olde Family Farm
-this place offers much more than just meat, but is one of the few that we found that do. Most of our diet is vegetarian so the meat listing is rather small. This is why it is in the meat section.
-the only way to receive food from this farm is by emailing them directly thru this following link. It is a private farm. http://www.localharvest.org/farms/M17488
· ErReR Hill Farms in Friedens, PA sells Locally Raised Angus Beef. It can be bought at the Somerset Farmer’s Market, at the farm, or Lincoln Supply & Equipment. (814) 445-4440 or www.errer.com
· Check the labels at the grocery store to find more local meats.
Eggs
· Korner Stone Pantry
Shanksville, PA
Leave a message (voicemail only) 814-267-6256
Open daylight to dusk, every day but Sunday
Located just west of the Shanksville School, 2nd farm building on the left
· Hollsopple Feed Mill
105 Mill Street
Hollsopple, PA
814-479-4727
· Vale Wood Farms Dairy Store
747 Vale Wood Road
Loretto, PA 15940
814-886-7171
www.valewoodfarms.com
· Stager’s
Portage PA
Dairy Products
· Vale Wood Farms
o offers milk, buttermilk, half & half cream, cream for whipping, cottage cheese, iced tea, lemonade, orange drink, 100 % orange juice, eggs, butter, sour cream, French onion dip, ice cream, and egg nog.
o meet specific criteria to prove that their cows are healthy and stress-free, feed cows the crops that they grow themselves, do not treat cows with rBST, a synthetic growth hormone, and instead produce high-quality milk the natural way- with comfortable cows in a healthy environment.
-Vale Wood Farms’ products can be found in most grocery stores. They only place that we have found the ice cream is at Ideal Market downtown and in Geistown (Bedford Street). They will also deliver their products to your home.
· Swampcrest Jerseys, LLC
795 Willkow Road
Berlin, PA 15530
814-267-9932 (voicemail only)
Open 3 pm to 6 pm Monday thru Saturday.
-This place offers raw milk, untouched by any processing equipment. The cows
receive no milk producing or growth hormones. Milk comes direct from the
producer--see how, when, and where your milk is made. $3.25 per gallon.
· Ye Olde Family Farm (see Animal Products-Meat for contact info)
o Again as seen on the site offers dairy products
· Johnstown Farmer’s Market (see Fruits and Vegetables for contact info)
o One vendor brings local cheese
· There are more local butters and other dairy products that are easily found by checking the labels are your local markets. One butter, Beaver Meadow Creamery Butter is from DuBois and can be purchased at Stager’s or Market Basket.
Meat
· Froehlich’s
77 D Street Extension
Johnstown, PA
814-535-7694
· Kountry Pantry
2597 Lincoln Highway
Stoystown, PA
814-629-1588
(Also a place to buy Peanut Butter packaged in Pennsylvania!)
· Ye Olde Family Farm
-this place offers much more than just meat, but is one of the few that we found that do. Most of our diet is vegetarian so the meat listing is rather small. This is why it is in the meat section.
-the only way to receive food from this farm is by emailing them directly thru this following link. It is a private farm. http://www.localharvest.org/farms/M17488
· ErReR Hill Farms in Friedens, PA sells Locally Raised Angus Beef. It can be bought at the Somerset Farmer’s Market, at the farm, or Lincoln Supply & Equipment. (814) 445-4440 or www.errer.com
· Check the labels at the grocery store to find more local meats.
Eggs
· Korner Stone Pantry
Shanksville, PA
Leave a message (voicemail only) 814-267-6256
Open daylight to dusk, every day but Sunday
Located just west of the Shanksville School, 2nd farm building on the left
· Hollsopple Feed Mill
105 Mill Street
Hollsopple, PA
814-479-4727
· Vale Wood Farms Dairy Store
747 Vale Wood Road
Loretto, PA 15940
814-886-7171
www.valewoodfarms.com
· Stager’s
Portage PA
Dairy Products
· Vale Wood Farms
o offers milk, buttermilk, half & half cream, cream for whipping, cottage cheese, iced tea, lemonade, orange drink, 100 % orange juice, eggs, butter, sour cream, French onion dip, ice cream, and egg nog.
o meet specific criteria to prove that their cows are healthy and stress-free, feed cows the crops that they grow themselves, do not treat cows with rBST, a synthetic growth hormone, and instead produce high-quality milk the natural way- with comfortable cows in a healthy environment.
-Vale Wood Farms’ products can be found in most grocery stores. They only place that we have found the ice cream is at Ideal Market downtown and in Geistown (Bedford Street). They will also deliver their products to your home.
· Swampcrest Jerseys, LLC
795 Willkow Road
Berlin, PA 15530
814-267-9932 (voicemail only)
Open 3 pm to 6 pm Monday thru Saturday.
-This place offers raw milk, untouched by any processing equipment. The cows
receive no milk producing or growth hormones. Milk comes direct from the
producer--see how, when, and where your milk is made. $3.25 per gallon.
· Ye Olde Family Farm (see Animal Products-Meat for contact info)
o Again as seen on the site offers dairy products
· Johnstown Farmer’s Market (see Fruits and Vegetables for contact info)
o One vendor brings local cheese
· There are more local butters and other dairy products that are easily found by checking the labels are your local markets. One butter, Beaver Meadow Creamery Butter is from DuBois and can be purchased at Stager’s or Market Basket.
Fruits and Vegetables
Fruits and Vegetables
For the fruits and vegetables, we have listed local farmer’s markets because chain grocery stores rarely have truly fresh produce, nor is the produce local in most cases. Better yet….GROW YOUR OWN!!!!!!!!!!!
· Johnstown Farmer’s Market runs from June thru October; every Friday from 9 am to 3 pm at central park. In 2008, vendor merchandise included vegetables, fruits, baked goods, jam, cheese, plants, and soap. The Market organizers can be reached at 814-536-3556.
o One vendor at the Johnstown farmer’s market runs his own community sustained agriculture (CSA) farm called Blue Goose Farm. You can buy shares of the farm and in return, you receive a wide variety of local and organic vegetables when in season for 20 weeks. You may pick up your produce at the farmers market on Fridays. Contact info: Scott Farabaugh, 2965 Blue Goose Road, Nicktown, PA 15762. 814-948-7188 sctfab@yahoo.com
· Fritz’s Farmer’s Market is a locally owned market, though not all food there is local. You can buy the things that you want though a locally owned business. It is located at 1614 Scalp Avenue, beside Dairy Queen. 814-266-7524
· The Ebensburg farmer’s market runs the last Saturday in July thru September from 9 am to 12 pm, located at 100 West High Street. 814-472-8414
· The Ligonier Country Market is located at Loyalhanna Watershed Farm on Springer Road. Contact Jim Mikulla at 724-238-6702. The farm is off of West Main Street, ½ mile west of the Ligonier Diamond, on the corner of Route 30 West and Springer Road. It is open on Saturdays from May thru September from 8 am to 1 pm. This is one of the areas largest farmer’s markets, offering a very large variety. In 2007 they had over 100 different Vendors.
· Ridgetop Orchards
2953 Valley Rd
Fishertown PA
(814) 839-4181
www.ridgetoporchards.com
Pick Your Own Cherries!
· Boyer Orchards (Apples)
New Paris, Pa
August thru Mid-October
· Benshoff Farms of New Germany
“We Specialize in Potatoes and Cabbage”
570 Benshoff Rd; Summerhill (814) 495-5509
· Don’t forget about roadside farmer’s markets!!!! They are your local farmers too. Gary Lambert from Central City sells his produce along Scalp Avenue by Em’s Subs.
There are many more in many different areas that are easily found in the aforementioned websites.
For the fruits and vegetables, we have listed local farmer’s markets because chain grocery stores rarely have truly fresh produce, nor is the produce local in most cases. Better yet….GROW YOUR OWN!!!!!!!!!!!
· Johnstown Farmer’s Market runs from June thru October; every Friday from 9 am to 3 pm at central park. In 2008, vendor merchandise included vegetables, fruits, baked goods, jam, cheese, plants, and soap. The Market organizers can be reached at 814-536-3556.
o One vendor at the Johnstown farmer’s market runs his own community sustained agriculture (CSA) farm called Blue Goose Farm. You can buy shares of the farm and in return, you receive a wide variety of local and organic vegetables when in season for 20 weeks. You may pick up your produce at the farmers market on Fridays. Contact info: Scott Farabaugh, 2965 Blue Goose Road, Nicktown, PA 15762. 814-948-7188 sctfab@yahoo.com
· Fritz’s Farmer’s Market is a locally owned market, though not all food there is local. You can buy the things that you want though a locally owned business. It is located at 1614 Scalp Avenue, beside Dairy Queen. 814-266-7524
· The Ebensburg farmer’s market runs the last Saturday in July thru September from 9 am to 12 pm, located at 100 West High Street. 814-472-8414
· The Ligonier Country Market is located at Loyalhanna Watershed Farm on Springer Road. Contact Jim Mikulla at 724-238-6702. The farm is off of West Main Street, ½ mile west of the Ligonier Diamond, on the corner of Route 30 West and Springer Road. It is open on Saturdays from May thru September from 8 am to 1 pm. This is one of the areas largest farmer’s markets, offering a very large variety. In 2007 they had over 100 different Vendors.
· Ridgetop Orchards
2953 Valley Rd
Fishertown PA
(814) 839-4181
www.ridgetoporchards.com
Pick Your Own Cherries!
· Boyer Orchards (Apples)
New Paris, Pa
August thru Mid-October
· Benshoff Farms of New Germany
“We Specialize in Potatoes and Cabbage”
570 Benshoff Rd; Summerhill (814) 495-5509
· Don’t forget about roadside farmer’s markets!!!! They are your local farmers too. Gary Lambert from Central City sells his produce along Scalp Avenue by Em’s Subs.
There are many more in many different areas that are easily found in the aforementioned websites.
Personal Search Tools
Again, this is by no means a definitive list of all local products or local stores to our area. These are just the stores and items that we know of and strive to use exclusively in our daily lives. It is not hard to tell when and if an establishment is locally owned or is part of some huge corporation. While it is nigh impossible to sustain a completely local diet, buying things that you feel are essential that are just not locally made like peanuts or coffee can easily be purchased at locally-owned establishments, sometimes for cheaper than the huge companies. When shopping, just take a look at the back labels of foods and see where they are coming from. We have found many things that we would have never known about like salsa from Punxsutawney and several products from here in Johnstown.
Below are some websites that are in fact search engines to try and find any products we have not listed that you may be interested in, restaurants that exclusively use local produce, local stores, or farms in any area by zip code. Don’t limit your local search to food! Local Harvest pulled up a place in New Enterprise (Health By Choice) that does Wellness Days, which has a nutritional counseling center as well as Ella’s Market which is a local food store as well. Read your local paper for more information, including where to buy local Christmas Trees (Green-Briar Tree Patch), and keep your ears open for people talking about their newest find, where we found local Bread, Beef, Jam, and bulk foods (Friendship Farms)!
www.localharvest.org
www.foodroutes.org
www.newfarm.org
http://agmap.psu.edu/
www.agriculture.state.pa.us/papreferred/site/default.asp
www.sustainabletable.org
www.eatwellguide.org
www.eatwild.com (grass fed meat)
Please check with your local Chamber of Commerce for more information on buying local! Somerset County does a very nice job of having brochures available at their office for many attractions, foods, wine lists, maple syrup camps, etc.
Below are some websites that are in fact search engines to try and find any products we have not listed that you may be interested in, restaurants that exclusively use local produce, local stores, or farms in any area by zip code. Don’t limit your local search to food! Local Harvest pulled up a place in New Enterprise (Health By Choice) that does Wellness Days, which has a nutritional counseling center as well as Ella’s Market which is a local food store as well. Read your local paper for more information, including where to buy local Christmas Trees (Green-Briar Tree Patch), and keep your ears open for people talking about their newest find, where we found local Bread, Beef, Jam, and bulk foods (Friendship Farms)!
www.localharvest.org
www.foodroutes.org
www.newfarm.org
http://agmap.psu.edu/
www.agriculture.state.pa.us/papreferred/site/default.asp
www.sustainabletable.org
www.eatwellguide.org
www.eatwild.com (grass fed meat)
Introduction to Eat, Support, Local
Introduction:
The search for local foods extended from our love of sustainability of both environment and entrepreneurs in the area that we love, Johnstown. This is not a naïve love, as we believe that some may have because they are in the perfect profession, have a perfect house, and are in the beautiful mountains. Personally, we love the topography, cost of living, and close knit community that Johnstown holds. I also very much enjoy living day to day looking at the face of failed factories, knowing that the people who live here know that this city has rebuilt from three floods, and from economic hardships. From those challenges, the concept of helping your neighbor is never too far out of reach. The city is big enough to not see your worst enemy every day, but small enough that you can give a job recommendation for someone just by sitting in a coffee shop.
Certainly, this list is not all-inclusive. As a community grows and individuals learn about new places to shop, there will be more places to find local foods and goods. However, we do believe that this is a good start for anyone who wants to take on eating local and reap the rewards of knowing that your individual decisions can make an impact locally; by keeping your money local, getting to know your neighbors, and the people who grow your food. This social capital in itself is enough reward to keep it up, once you begin the journey. It can be exciting and fascinating once you begin looking at your dinner plate, and realizing that the only thing that is not local is the salt on your locally grown broccoli, and yet that was purchased from a locally owned business!
Inevitably, some of you will wonder how to eat locally during the winter. The internet is a wonderful resource, which will give you tips on how to can, dry, and freeze your veggies and fruits for winter storage. You live in an apartment? So do we. Put away as many things as you can (especially when it’s in surplus) and it will help to make a dent in the grocery bill in the winter. If you plan correctly and buy selectively, you will not see much of a difference in your grocery bill over the year. If you have the ability to grow a garden, or grow things in containers, it will help significantly with the cost, and you know exactly what you did to make those foods grow! There may be patches of more spending at times, but it evens out. At least, it did in our experience, and we encourage you to consider doing it little by little until you figure out what works best for you.
Make sure you contact a farm before you go to visit. Make sure they have what you want, and ask what their policies are about visitors. A lot of these places are also the farmer’s home. If you find a farm online, there is usually a contact button, or a time frame that visitors are allowed. Be respectful! Also, may we suggest when you go to a Farmer’s Market or farm to purchase goods (in fact, any store!) you can cut down your usage of plastic bags by bringing your own. If you do this at the Farmer’s Markets and Farms especially, you help the farmer out by not needing to buy as many bags that will just be thrown away again. And when you’re done with a carton from blueberries, etc, take it back when you return! They appreciate it!
We hope you enjoy the search as much as we do.
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