Farm to Freezer

Regionally Grown Frozen Fruits & Vegetables

The Neighboring Food Co-op Association (NFCA) is excited to announce that our food co-ops are working together to increase the availability of healthy, sustainably grown, regionally sourced fruits and vegetables for consumers and extending the marketing season for family farmers in the Northeast. Our “Northeast Grown” Frozen Fruits and Vegetables are easy to find in your food co-op’s freezer section — they’re packed with a simple black and white label and a clear package so you can see what’s inside:

  • Green Peas. New addition added in October 2018. Our peas are grown on a family farm in Monroeville, NJ. Kern Farm is a multi-generational farm growing vegetables and grains since the early 1900’s. Eric Kern and his nephew Mike carrying on a legacy of sustainable farming practices. (Click HERE for Recipes!)
  • Blueberries. Our delicious highbush blueberries were grown by Lagoner Farms, a diversified fruit and vegetable farm in operation for over 100 years (a fifth-generation farm!). Lagoner Farm uses organic growing practices. (Click HERE for Recipes!)
  • Sweet Corn. Our delicious, non-GMO sweet corn is grown by Seabrook Brothers & Sons Farm, a third generation farm in Cumberland County, NJ.  As a family owned business established in 1978, Seabrook Brothers & Sons is proud to grow a wide variety of vegetables and conducts its operations in a manner that is environmentally responsible and befitting of a good neighbor and citizen. (Click HERE for Recipes!)

We hope that you will try these regionally grown and processed fruits and vegetables — available exclusively at your Neighboring Food Co-ops! To find a Member Co-op near you, please visit www.nfca.coop/members.

RECIPES

Want a delicious recipe for a quick meal or to impress your family and guests at your table? Try these recipes for our Frozen:

More recipes using multiple NFCA Frozen ingredients.

PROJECT BACKGROUND

Your local food co-op works hard to offer products that strengthen local economies, support sustainable agriculture, and grow community ownership.  Working together, we recognize that we have a greater impact than when we work alone. As we began exploring opportunities for increasing regional souring, we noticed that most of the frozen fruits and vegetables on our shelves were grown on large, industrial farms and processed by distant corporations. Could this be an opportunity to use our shared purchasing power to create change in the food system?

The NFCA’s Farm to Freezer project began in 2011 as an experiment to help our member food co-ops answer this question. In collaboration with local farmers, farmer co-operatives and regional processors, we developed a pilot of frozen products grown, processed and packaged right here in the Northeast. Supported in part by two grants from the Eastern Corridor of National Co+op Grocers (NCG), the project enabled the NFCA to test consumer interest, processing infrastructure, and the availability of regional produce.

After two seasons, Farm to Freezer was put on hold as we worked with our partners at the New England Farmers Union and Deep Root Organic Co-op to obtain a USDA Value-Added Producer Grant (VAPG) to explore options for future collaboration, processing and distribution. Thanks to our  partnership with regional distributor Associated Buyers, we are able to make these products available again in the Fall of 2015, exclusively through our member food co-ops.

We hope that you will try these products and support your local food co-op as we work together to build a thriving co-operative economy, rooted in a healthy, just and sustainable food system in our region and beyond.