Rebecca Brady, of Top Seedz Crackers, belives ” good, natural ingredients make you feel good naturally. ”  After spending years perfecting and snacking on her crackers at home, she turned her passion into a business. Co-op shoppers can’t get enough of Top Seedz crackers, either paired with cheese or straight out of the container!

Trystan and Max Sandvoss bring us the fresh, fantastic cheeses from First Light Farm and Creamery. The brothers studied cheesemaking in the Pacific Northwest, then purchased a former pear orchard in between Buffalo and Rochester to start their goat farm. With their goat’s milk and certified organic jersey cow’s milk from a neighbor, each batch of cheese is hand crafted for serious goodness!

Website

Website

Tim Grant, owner of Stand Fast Farm in Dunkirk, NY is a first-generation cattle farmer. His first experience with cattle was in high school when he did a 4-H steer project. Through this project Tim built the foundation of his love of caring for animals, as well as, his understanding of the cattle industry. It was during an internship in Idaho that Tim learned how to raise premium grass fed beef. Upon returning to New York, he purchased his farm.  currently, Tim, alongside his wife and son, manage 150 acres and 110 head of cattle. All of their cattle is grass fed with a focus on maximizing the cows’ time at pasture. Cattle grazes on a rich blend of plants, a sustainable way to feed, as the grass fields can be raised as multi-year crops. When asked why he grass feeds, Tim said that for him it comes down to a quality of life issue for his cattle. Stand Fast Farm began selling their grass fed beef to the Co-op in 2008. “Lexington has been a partner with us, and we would not be where we are without all of their customers. You are all helping us preserve part of WNY’s beautiful landscape, diverse wildlife and small scale food production.”

Website

Sadly, longtime Co-op apple, peach and plum grower Dan Tower passed away earlier this year. Fortunately for our community, Brian LoVullo purchased 100 acres of orchards and equipment from the Towers. Dan was able to spend his final months sharing his decades of knowledge with Brian so he and his family can carry on growing the great orchard fruit we all love. The LoVullos will carry on Dan’s love for agriculture and commitment to LOCAL food! In addition, Iris Tower will continue to grow her beautiful flowers to sell at the Elmwood Farmer’s Market.

Brad Draudt’s farm in Hamburg is a true family affair. Each spring, their lettuces are one of the first things to make their way into the produce department, and local season begins! A steady stream of squash, beans, cucumbers, and fresh sweet corn in the months that follow, straight from the Draudt family’s sunny fields.

Porter Farms has been a family operation for over 50 years. Mike Porter, whose parents started the farm, is owner and his family and crew run the diversified farm. Porter Farms supplies A huge CSA program, and many East Coast supermarkets, all from their farm in Elba, NY!

Website

Tony Weiss was one of the original farmers to partner with the co-op in our early years in Lexington. Every year we look forward to his sweet strawberries in June, and gorgeous tomatoes, peppers, and well, just about everything that grows out of the ground throughout the growing season.

“Good Bread, Good Work,” is the motto for BreadHive. Opened in 2015 as a wholesale bakery, BreadHive sells its fresh baked breads and bagels tot he Co-op. They are Buffalo’s only employee owned bakery and cafe!

Martin and Barbara Henry have been in the flower business for years. Their latest venture is Henry’s Gardens, which supplies our gourgeous local wildflower bouquets. Barb’s son Alan will also supply us with conventionally grown eggplant and hot peppers this year!

Since 1915, Singer Farm has been growing juicy tree fruits along Lake Ontario. In recent years, Tom and Vivian Szulist have made the farm synonymous with tart cherry juice and garlic as well. They’ve rebuilt the ‘legacy barn’ at the farm, and are moving off the grid with their very own wind turbine and solar panels on farm.

Website

Located near the small town of Ulysses, our artisan cheeses are made right on the farm from all-natural, clean raw-milk, free from artificial growth hormones. The mountain spring water and lush green grass on the farm give the milk a delicious, fresh and sweet flavor.

The Piggery works to produce pork that is “good for the people, good for the land and good for the pigs.” This is accomplished by pasture and woodland raising heirloom pigs on locally raised, non-GMO grains. As the business has expanded The Piggery began working with other small farms in the Finger Lakes who have the same philosophy when it comes to raising pigs!

Founded in 2000, Gimme! Coffee works to balance great coffee and sustainable business practices throughout every step of the process. Seeing coffee as more than just a morning pick-me-up, Gimme! has worked to craft the perfect cup all while paying close attention to how their beans are grown from a social and environmental point of view.

Three generations of the Nicholson family have been working their 600-acre orchard since 1958. They grow berries, currants, cherries, peaches, plums, and apricots to make premium juices and jams.

Once Again Nut Butters began in 1976 in Rochester, NY! Founders, Jeremy Thaler and Constance Potter met in Madision, WI while establishing the Mifflin Street Co-op. They turned their passion for all natural products and co-ops into a bakery that produced granola via barrel roaster. When a friend mentioned they could use the equipment to make peanut butter- Once Again was born. The worker owned co-op now operates in Nunda, NY! They supply Lexington with jars of nut butters as well as our bulk butters.

The birds on the Byler Family Farm are pasture raised and hand fed twice a day. They have implemented roll away nest boxes, which allows the eggs to be “rolled away” as soon as they are laid to keep them safe and clean. Once collected, again by hand, the eggs are stored in a refrigerated room and kept at a temperature below 45 degrees.  Byler Farm is USDA certified organic, and USDA certified cage free!

In 1932 Adam Maliszewski began a home delivery business that delivered ice and coal. As energy sources changed, his son Chet took over the business and expanded to include charcoal and grilling woods. Today, Mali Charcoal is led by the third generation, Jim! You’ll find Jim grilling outside the Co-op for special events- tongs in one hand and an iced tea in the other. Jim’s charcoal grilling tip is patience. Wait for the coals to ash over before you start grilling.

Bootleg Bucha opened in 2015, and in the three short years that followed, it has grown into New York State’s largest kombucha brewery. Their operation began in owners’ Jeff and Heather’s home kitchen before moving to Horsefeathers Market. Bootleg Bucha quickly outgrew that space and has taken up residence at 1250 Niagara Street in Buffalo.

Jeff and Heather believe that “drinking stuff that makes you feel good doesn’t have to taste bad,” which is why they are committed to producing a vegan, non-GMO, organic beverage that also tastes great. Bootleg Bucha is 100% raw, naturally fermented, and never pasteurized. Their ‘buch’ is an excellent source of vitamin B12 and supplements your body’s natural gut flora.

At just fourteen years old, Colin Erdle was carrying cartons of blueberries into the Co-op when it was on Lexington Ave. Today he stands alongside his dad Rich in one of their many grape fields that span more than 90 acres in the town of Silver Creek. On this land the Erdles cultivate blueberries, blackberries, and more than anything else, grapes.

Seventy of their acres are devoted to grape production. Each season the Erdles produce five hundred tons of concord grapes, not to mention other varieties. The Erdles are far from new to farming. The family began in the 1860s (yes, you read that correctly) on a farm in Sheridan, NY- just a few miles down the thruway from Erdle Farm. This long lineage of farmers makes Colin the sixth generation, and his daughter, the seventh generation to be raised on Erdle Farm land.

Rooted deeper than the crops they grow is the Erdles’ love for the work they do and the people they do it with. Whether they are dropping names of other local farmers the Co-op should look into or picking up their tiny farm dog Ruby so she can rest her little legs, it is evident that family is what drives the farm.

Founded by Riko Chandra and Jim Howard, Reverie Creamery is a small batch artisan cheesemaking company with a focus on local. They use their location ion Chautauqua County to their advantage by sourcing the best local ingredients and create meaningful relationships with the agricultural community around them.

Reverie began as a cheese store before expanding to create their own fresh goat’s milk cheeses. Today Reverie makes aged goat and cow’s milk cheeses as well as soft cheeses and some with wash-rinds.

Dan and Carrie Childs have been growing blueberries for more than 30 years. They are driven by a passion for producing the most flavorful and sustainable berries possible.

Grown in the perfect blend of soil, Childs uses Integrated Pest Management and sprays only when absolutely necessary. Childs maintains honey beehives to keep fields pollinated. They harvest the berries by hand reducing the use of machinery as well as dead loss and rot that can occur from berries crush or knocked down by tractors. They sell their berries in-season at Farmer’s Markets. Berries that don’t sell that day are frozen or turned to jam that same day.

Lexi’s Kitchen uses Childs Blueberries in our baked good year round!

After expanding to a larger farm, Plato Dale Farm of Arcade, NY, has made the commitment to go organic. It is an extensive three year process to become certified organic and they are two years down with one more to go. When you see Plato Dale in the store this summer you can celebrate with them knowing this is the last year their crops will be conventional! We look forward to working with more transitional farms in the future.