Plum native Randy Morris invites customers to Morris Farm to pick their own organic produce. w
Fresh from the Vine
Plum native Randy Morris invites customers to Morris Farm to pick their own organic produce. w
By Jennifer Brozak
hen Randy Morris first achieved his organic farming certification in 1994, his farm was a bit of an anomaly. At the time, people weren’ t quite sure what“ organic” farming signified, even though it followed the same guidelines and procedures that farms practiced prior to the industrial revolution. His was, in fact, perhaps one of only a dozen organic farms in all of western Pennsylvania.
“ It wasn’ t the best thing early on,” says Morris, owner of Morris Organic Farm.“ It was looked at with a lot of skepticism— so much so that we didn’ t even put the word‘ organic’ on the sign. We didn’ t want to turn people away.”
Needless to say, that attitude has significantly changed. As people have become more aware of health concerns related to chemicals in foods, his business has flourished.
“ In the last 10 years, the business has done much better. No one can say long term what the effects are of pesticides, herbicides and GMOs, and people are starting to realize that,” he says.
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