Penn’s Corner Farm Alliance, the Pittsburgh region’s only farm cooperative, is celebrating its 20th anniversary with a farm-to-table dinner on July 31.
The event will be held at the Whitfield Ace Hotel, 120 S. Whitfield St., Pittsburgh. Tickets are $100 and are being sold at showclix.com.
Penn’s Corner is a farmer-owned cooperative that started in 1999 when a group of farmers decided they could accomplish more sales and better service if they worked collectively to offer their locally grown products to Pittsburgh-area restaurants.
Today, Penn’s Corner comprises almost 30 farms that supply the Pittsburgh area with a year-round supply of farm-fresh products, including pasture-raised meat, cheese, fresh produce, maple syrup and honey.
The cooperative expanded to include a community-supported agriculture, or CSA, program in 2003, where customers subscribe to a weekly box of fresh produce. The CSA program has more than 30 pickup locations in and around Pittsburgh and as far away as Erie.
In March, Penn’s Corner announced it was collaborating with Clarion River Organics in Sligo to increase efficiency and customer choice for the CSA.
The cooperative continues to focus on restaurant sales, but is also putting a greater emphasis on direct-to-consumer sales, including home delivery of customizable meat boxes, which is launching later in June.
