Modern Milk Man
Canon-Mac residents can enjoy farm-fresh foods thanks to
The Family Cow’s deliveries to customers throughout PA.
BY JENNIFER BROZAK
I
Photos courtesy of yourfamilyfarmer.com
n Edwin Shank’s perfect world, families would have access to fresh, wholesome dairy by
means of a family cow in their own backyards.
Knowing that this isn’t feasible, Shank, instead, delivers dairy produced by his own family
cows to customers throughout Pennsylvania.
About eight years ago, Shank, a fourth generation farmer and owner of The Family Cow farm
in Chambersburg, PA, envisioned a way to deliver more of his family’s certified organic raw milk
to families throughout the region. It all began when one of his regular customers was hoping to
continue to buy Shank’s dairy products, even though she had moved to New Jersey. Since his
product couldn’t be legally transported across state lines, Shank told the woman that he would
make the three-hour trip to meet her on the edge of Pennsylvania, as long as she could find a few
other people to join her. She did, taking orders from five of her friends.
That took place in March of 2009. By October of the same year, simply by word of mouth, The
Family Cow’s first drop point had grown to 100 families – some of whom were driving several
hours to the location.
“The mob never slowed down,” Shank says with a laugh. “We decided we had to add a few
drop points to the north and south to lessen congestion.”
As time progressed, responding to customer demand, more locations were added along the
eastern edge of the state. Then, one of Shank’s eastern PA customers moved to the Pittsburgh
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