Daily Local News (West Chester, PA)
On a mission to support local growers
Couple opens new market with fresh produce, specialty items
Aaron and Emma de Long are using their passion for agriculture to connect the community with local growers.
Married couple Aaron and Emma de Long are using their passion for agriculture to connect community members with local growers and providers.
The de Longs recently opened the Red Dog Market, a small organic grocery store located in Warwick Township. The market was named after their adopted dog June. Items for sale include fresh produce, as well as locally sourced meat, cheeses, and other staple products.
Aaron de Long said he and his wife opened the market to connect people to the individuals growing and making food right in their community. He said the mission is to build “a strong local food system.”
“Not all zucchinis are created equal. There’s a difference sometimes in the way that they’re grown and in the way that the land is cultivated,” de Long said.
Much of the fresh vegetable produce sold at the market comes from Kneehigh Farm in South Coventry, which Emma de Long owns and operates. The vegetable farm has a Certified Naturally Grown accreditation which is given to farmers who grow food naturally without synthetic chemicals or genetically modified organisms, also known as GMOs.
Emma de Long and her husband are very committed to sustainable farming practices. She grows organic food on the farm and runs a Community Supported Agriculture program. Members of the program buy a share of the farm’s produce before each season, then regularly receive bundles of produce throughout the growing season.
Aaron de Long grew up working at a farmers’ market and studied natural resources policy and management in college. He is now the Delaware Valley hub manager for PASA, which stands for Pennsylvania Sustainable Agriculture. The nonprofit organization has farmer training and education opportunities.
Because of both their backgrounds, the de Longs have a relationship with several area farmers and created a 100-mile commitment for the Red Dog Market. They are committed to working with small suppliers from this region and even have a list of their local suppliers on their website.
“Almost everything in this store — especially meat, dairy, and produce — we know the people who grew it, and we know how they grew it,” Aaron de Long said. “That was important to us.”
The market gets its blueberries from Frecon Farms of Boyertown, cherries from Beechwood Orchards in Biglerville, and many other items from local providers throughout the region.
“In this area, we can grow so much,” Aaron de Long said.
He said one of the motivations behind the market was to work toward regional food security, especially after the impacts witnessed during the pandemic.
“One of the things we saw with COVID, and the pandemic, was that long supply chains are very vulnerable to disruption,” Aaron de Long said. “So in order to build food security, which I think is a really important piece of social stability, we need to work on building and strengthening the local food systems.”
To help toward this goal, the market sells more than just fresh produce so people can mark several items off their grocery list when shopping. Aaron de Long said the goal is to be a “wholediet market.” Customers can find items such as tomato sauce and pasta, both supplied locally.
“I didn’t realize how good pasta could be,” Aaron de Long said.
He used some of the pasta sold at the market earlier in the season when making a pesto dish. He said even after being refrigerated for a few days, the past tasted as it had just been cooked. He was surprised to learn that like produce, locally sourced pantry items stay fresh longer.
The market also has special finds or items that may not be commonly seen sold together such as freshly harvested Elderberry flowers, fava beans, and several herbal products. There are even prepared foods such as a packed barbeque chicken salad and empanadas prepared by a local food truck.
Aaron de Long said online ordering will soon be available for the market, something that has become more popular during the pandemic.
The Red Dog Market is open Tuesday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. The address is 1503 Ridge Road.
For more information, visit the website at www.reddogmarketpa.com.