Modern Milk Man
Woodland Hills 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
44 724.942.0940 TO ADVERTISE | Woodland Hills