Turnpike Farmers' Markets

Taste of Pennsylvania
Turnpike Farmers' Markets Give Travelers a Taste of Pennsylvania
	Did you know that the average mouthful of food travels 1, 200 miles from farmer to your table? Locally grown food is always fresher, tastier, closer to ripeness and therefore healthier. It is the Farmers’Markets along the Pennsylvania Turnpike that Turnpike travelers seem to remember the most from their trips. The reason for their great success are products like the wonderful locally-grown Pennsylvania herbs, tomatoes, sweet corn, as well as home-baked goods that find their way onto the tables of commuters, locals, and tourists alike. Farmers’ Markets are located at the Valley Forge Service Plaza in Chester County, the Allentown Service Plaza in Lehigh County, the Sideling Hill Service Plaza in Fulton County and the New Stanton Service Plaza in Westmoreland County. They operate from Memorial Day until the Thanksgiving holiday. Hours are Fridays and
Sundays from 11 a.m. till dusk, and Saturdays, Mondays, and holiday weekends from 10 a.m. till dusk.
Farmers who operate the markets sell products according to the seasons: asparagus, snow peas and vine-ripened greenhouse tomatoes in the spring; apples, cider, pumpkins and squash in the fall; and peaches, tomatoes and sweet corn in the summer. Valerie Yostin, who chairs the eastbound only Valley Forge Farmers’ Market said, "We hear comments like, ‘This is the high point of our trip’…’It’s great to see good, pure, home-grown food." Yostin prepares home-baked breads, cakes and fruit pies in season in addition to the apple and lemon-sponge pie she bakes year round. "We have a unique ambiance at Valley Forge market. One of our farmers makes wonderful handmade wooden pull toys and birdhouses, another makes hand-made textiles like throw pillows and children’s dolls."
	The markets which are separate from the service plazas, carry Pennsylvania farm products exclusively including fruits and vegetables, bedding plants and flowers, baked-goods, maple syrup and honey, meat, eggs, herbs and fruit baskets. The Farmers’Markets will be offering two new product lines this year: home-made candles and small hand-made wooden crafts (toys, plaques). Natalie Bortz of the Turnpike’s Concession Management Department said, "The public’s response to our Farmers’Markets has been so positive, that we’re currently working with the farmers to extend their days of operation."
The Turnpike’s Farmers’ Markets, which began as a pilot project in 1995, are part of a cooperative effort with the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture. According to Turnpike officials receipts for all four Farmers’Markets totaled $360,000 in 1998. Pennsylvania Farmers interested in participating in the program can call Mike Varner at The PA Department of Agriculture at 717-787-2376 or Natalie Bortz at the PA Turnpike Commission at 717-939-9551 ext. 2320 or e-mail at nbortz@paturnpike.com. Farmers will not be charged for space to participate.