Appleseed Farms announces plans to open year-round market
A family-run produce and specialty foods business is taking steps to bring more local produce directly to the Butler community through plans for a new year-round market — hopefully with the help of a state grant.
Appleseed Farms has applied for a Pennsylvania Fresh Food Financing Initiative grant to help fund the construction of the market on its property at 174 New Castle Road in Butler.
The proposed market would be about 3,000 square feet, Appleseed Farms owner John Elias said, with an open retail floor plan, wooden produce displays, bakery counters and a walk-in cooler for meats.
“I don't know yet exactly what we will be allowed to do there with zoning and things like that,” Elias said. “We want it wide open in the front and lots of produce outside underneath the porch. The other side would be dedicated to the bakery, local ciders and jams.”
Elias said Appleseed Farms either sources its products from other local farmers or grow it themselves.
The business currently has two locations. One is at 1140 Pittsburgh Road in Valencia, where there is an established food market, but its other location at New Castle Road has been a simple produce stand for the past few years. This new project aims to change that.
“I took over the property a couple years ago,” Elias said of the business’s location on New Castle Road. “It was owned by my brother who passed away a few years ago. We moved in there to sell product as a roadside stand. It ended up doing really well and got a lot of support from the community.
“It just seems like there is a demand for local produce and other locally produced items in Butler. Then, I saw the grant come up, and it all just came together.”
Helping the market stand out among others will be what Elias calls “educational exhibits” that will be placed within the store to help educate the public about how our ancestors fed themselves.
“We want to tell the history of food in Western Pennsylvania,” Elias said. “It would have a small section on the wall with Johnny Appleseed because he actually lived in Pittsburgh for a while.”
Another exhibit will show off foods that Native Americans ate before Europeans arrived in the Americas. Others yet will showcase various cultures and their cuisine.
Elias said Appleseed Farms has applied for a Pennsylvania Fresh Food Financing Initiative grant, which he hopes will cover at least some of the initial expenses of the project, such as engineering costs.
“We reached out to a local engineering company, which just sent me a quote on the zoning and building permits with Butler Township,” Elias said. “Once I get that part figured out, the engineer can do what they need to do to get the building permit.”
Elias hopes building can start within the next six months or so.
The deadline for the grant is Nov. 1 and Elias said he is not sure how long it will take to hear back about his application for the grant.
Part of the application process is demonstrating public need for the produce market, so Elias reached out to state Rep. Marci Mustello, R-11th, and Sandra Curry, director of Community Partnership in Butler, for letters of recommendation, asking them for support in the pursuit of the grant.
“(Community Partnership) does a program called Fresh Bucks where they give out these checks for people in need of food and we accept those and their program reimburses us for the money,” Elias said. “Their whole goal is get food in the hands of those with limited access to food.”
The kicker for the business in applying for the grant, is that the New Castle Road location sits within a limited food access zone, which further demonstrates the community need for the market Elias said.
Elias said he has been awarded grants in the past from the state for other projects, and he thinks the state does a good job of providing farmers with lots of avenues to help complete projects like this one.
“I think Butler County has been great to us and agriculture in general,” Elias said. “I am really excited to get this project off the ground.”
