Sonnewald Natural Foods

By CHELSEA SHANK The York Dispatch | 505-5432 / @ydhealth | Updated: 07/13/2012 11:29:22 AM EDT

Lots of workers have been a part of Sonnewald Farms during the 66 years it has been providing York County residents with fresh, organic products from its 60-acre property.

A photo dated 1956 shows Harold Tim Lefever, left, and his father Calvin Lefever preparing a metal sheet for use in a solar panel in Tim’s home, shown in the background. (Submitted photo)

Her daughter, Willa Lefever, of Sonnewald Farms, said finding contact information for everyone who has ever been involved at the farm has been a challenge.

The reunion will be held rain or shine on the farm property at 1516 Lefever Lane in Spring Grove from 10 a.m. until 8 p.m.

Attendees are also welcome to camp on the farm property Friday night. Those unable to attend are welcome to make submissions for a scrapbook of Sonnewald farm memories.

Grace Lefever, 89, and her stepdaughter Willa Lefever talk about a planned reunion outside Grace's home at Sonnewald Farm. Willa and her husband Bill run the farm and natural food store there. The farm is planning a reunion Aug. 18 for anyone who has lived or worked at the farm and store. The reunion is in honor of Graces 90th birthday in December. Willa's father, Harold Tim Lefever, started the farm in 1946. (Bill Kalina photo)

If anyone has names or contact information of individuals who have ever worked at Sonnewald Farms, they should email info@sonnewald.org or RSVP for themselves by Wednesday, Aug. 1 to willa@sonnewald.org.

– Reach Chelsea at 505-5432 or cshank@yorkdispatch.com

Eric Sherdel hopes to grow food and start an agriculture learning center in Hanover.
By CRAIG K. PASKOSKI The Evening Sun; Posted: 06/29/2012 05:45:30 PM EDT

The ruffled, green leaves of the lettuce plants look strong. There are also the two short rows of corn in the back, young but taking hold. Then there are the cucumbers and broccoli trying to make a go of it.

It’s not much to look at yet, Eric Sherdel admits. He got a late start planting his vegetable garden. He built a hoop house out back and started the plants from seed. But getting the 25-foot-by-30-foot plot ready from scratch this year was a little more than he expected, what with double digging the soil and picking out enough rocks to build a knee-high wall for the rear of the garden.

It’s all a work in progress for Sherdel, a Hanover resident who is devoting himself to learning as much as he can about growing food through organic practices.

His plans, though, go beyond raising vegetables in his backyard. He’d like to purchase a nearby piece of property and use it to establish an organic farm and agricultural learning center to teach school children about farming, where their food comes from and how to eat healthy.

Hanover native Eric Sherdel hopes to gather support to purchase the 2 acres next to Park Hills Elementary School to use as an organic farm and agriculture learning center. (THE EVENING SUN BRETT BERWAGER)

Sherdel discovered his calling, he said, during a stint in California last summer. It was after he had gotten laid off from his job at Jack Giambalvo Motors in York, and he wanted to spend some time with a cousin and close friend in Santa Cruz exploring his options. While there, he toured the Dirty Girl Produce organic farm and the University of California at Santa Cruz’s Life Lab, which offers farm- and garden-based educational programs to students of all ages.

And he also saw the reality of industrialized farming. He saw signs posted at strawberry fields warning workers of the dangers of the pesticides used on the fields.

If there were warnings for those that worked with the plants, what did that mean for the people that eat the fruit? Sherdel thought.

“I just got to thinking that all of that stuff is going into you,” he said. “It all gets absorbed into the plants you eat.”

Sherdel was inspired by the expanding organic and sustainable farming movement in California, at Dirty Girl and other farms there.

“I toured their farm and I was just amazed at the way they do things,” he said. “It’s just a whole different world out there.”

While growing up in Hanover, Sherdel was always interested in plants and gardens.

Sherdel was hoping to get an internship at the Life Lab, but instead got a job offer to do automotive damage estimates for a firm in York. Reluctantly, he came home. There were bills to pay, he pointed out.

But Sherdel brought back with him a lot of useful knowledge that he was eager to put into practice and an enthusiasm to spread the word about organic farming.

“I’m just trying to get the message out,” he said. “I’m trying to get the message out that this is an option for people.”

Hanover native Eric Sherdel hopes to educate others about organic farming and eventually open an agriculture learning center for students. (THE EVENING SUN BRETT BERWAGER) out,\

Then he saw those 2 farmable acres near Park Hills Elementary School in Penn Township were for sale and he realized what he should do. It would be the perfect spot for an organic farm and learning center, he thought.
“I saw that sign and it just clicked,” the South Western High School graduate said.

Sherdel posted his idea, which he is calling “Learn As You Grow Farm,” on his Facebook page and approached school officials and others to gauge interest. And while many think it’s a good idea, making it a reality is more challenging.

The biggest hurdle is getting the money to buy the property, some $140,000.

“It all comes down to purchasing the land. I don’t have a lot of money. I just have the dream,” he said. “If I could do it myself I would.”

Sherdel is exploring the possibility of establishing a nonprofit that would be able to accept donations and work toward the purchase of that property or another plot sometime later.

So far, Sherdel has only begun to scratch the surface in pursuit of his idea. It has been hit and miss making the contacts and generating interest.

“There are people that love the idea, but not the support I need,” he said.

“There’s really not that many people in Hanover it seems that are into organic fruits and produce,” he said. “I hope to change that.”

Meanwhile, Sherdel continues to learn the ropes of farming in his spare time. He has volunteered at the Sonnewald store and farm and also plans to offer a hand at the Common Ground Farms in Abbottstown.
“It’s what I need to be doing,” he said.

Looking over his humble garden behind his house on Boundary Avenue in the evening’s twilight, Sherdel is optimistic about his backyard plot.

“I’ll be so much more prepared next year,” he says. “I hope to get an early start next year.”

And about the prospects for an agricultural learning center for the area? If it doesn’t work out with the two acres near the school, there will be other opportunities, he said.

“I need people that share the same vision I have,” he said.

“I’d really like to find a way to make this work,” he said. “I’m really determined.”

DIGGING IN
Those interested in helping Eric Sherdel with his plans to establish an organic farm and agriculture learning center can contact him at http://www.facebook.com/eric.sherdel.

by guest blogger Coach Mark Smallwood, Executive Director of the Rodale Institute.

The simplest of our children’s (and their children’s) basic human needs are being threatened every day. What are we going to tell them? Driven by comfort, habit, and fear, we continue to exhaust our resources beyond redemption. Some of it is simple consumption as the land that makes up our bread basket literally washes away. But much of it is consumption by pollution, as we slowly but surely create soil that will not grow food, contaminate the waterways that feed our drinking water sources, and poison the very air we breathe. What are we going to tell them?

Will we tell them that we…

…put toxic chemicals on our food and in our drinking water every day? More than 17,000 pesticide products for agricultural and non-agricultural use are currently on the market. Exposure to these chemicals has been linked to brain/central nervous system disruption, infertility, a multitude of cancers, and even changes to our DNA. And the Environmental Protection Agency has required testing of less than 1 percent of the chemicals currently in commerce. Some of these chemicals regularly show up in our water supply well above what are considered “safe” limits.

…created foods that made poisons in their very cells? Through the magic of genetic engineering, we now grow food crops (broccoli, potatoes, corn, rice, and more) that don’t just have pesticides on them, but actually have pesticides in them. Numerous animal feeding studies suggest serious health effects from these foods.

…spread human sewage on our farm fields? Biosolids, aka sewage sludge, can contain pathogens, heavy metals, flame retardants, pharmaceutical drugs, and other chemicals linked to cancers and endocrine disruption. Anything that goes down our collective drains–from medicine flushed down the toilet to paint brushes washed in the sink to industrial contaminants hosed off a warehouse floor–ends up in our wastewater treatment plants and then on our farms.

Or will we tell them that we…

…designed farms so crops can better resist pest and disease pressures? Rather than kill a mosquito with an atom bomb, organic farmers start with good design, crop rotation, trap crops, pheromone lures, barriers, and other low-impact methods of pest-control, using naturally derived products, but only as a last resort.

…grew thousands of different kinds of vegetables, fruits, grains, and animals? The recovery of heritage breeds and heirloom varieties adds to the richness and resilience of our food system. Biological plant breeding reduces the risk of selecting for one trait at the expense of the overall heath of the plants.

…fed our land by growing plants just for the soil and applying compost? By growing plants (called green manures or cover crops) that get turned into the soil rather than being harvested, or by making and applying compost, we can grow soil rather than lose it. Whatever is taken from the soil is returned.

It’s easy to forget that the real meaning of “intoxicate” is “to make toxic.” We are yet riding the highs of environmental intoxication–the shortsighted “benefits” of temporary abundance. Enough so in America that we manage to throw away 25 percent of the food we produce. But it is an illusion of security. We are borrowing against our children’s future food-producing capabilities, and the first hints of that inevitable hangover are just tugging at our consciousness.

It’s time to get uncomfortable and start asking ourselves, “Why?” Why are we stealing from our children’s plates? Why, indeed, when there are farmers, ranchers, citizens, and families living toward a very different kind of future. They are growing a future that will nourish and sustain generations to come. A future built upon rich, healthy soil and into which we can sink our roots.

Without clean air to fill our lungs, pure water to drink, and healthy soil in which food and flourish, all the economic and political arguments of today will no longer be anywhere near the table. We need to get back to the table–the kitchen table–and start building economies of soil rather than economies of scale.

Coach Mark Smallwood

Coach Mark Smallwood has been dedicated to environmental sustainability, efficiency and conservation for decades. Since joining Rodale Institute in December 2010, he has brought heritage livestock back to Rodale Institute’s 333-acre farm, expanded and enhanced Rodale Institute’s research efforts, as well as launched “Your 2 Cents,” a national campaign to support and promote new organic farmers. In recognition for his sustainability efforts, Coach was chosen as a messenger for Al Gore’s Climate Project presenting to over 15,000 people on the effects of Global Warming. Last, but certainly not least, as a long-time organic farmer and biodynamic gardener, Coach has raised chickens, goats, sheep, pigs, and driven a team of oxen.

For more from Maria Rodale, go to www.mariasfarmcountrykitchen.com ”

“The controversy about fluoride is in the news again!

I remember hearing this debate as a child growing up at Sonnewald and I recall seeing my very busy father, hand writing letters to the editor. Over fifty years later, we are still having this discussion.

Is fluoride a by product of aluminum smelting and more toxic than lead? Does it decrease oxygen at the cellular level, inhibit enzyme activity, and suppress thyroid function? Is aluminum often high in hair analyses of dementia and Alzheimer’s patients? Is fluoride a toxic, non-biodegradable, environmental pollutant?

Do your research. If you conclude you want fluoride in your body, there are many ways to get it. Your dentist will probably provide fluoride treatments or your doctor can write you a prescription for tablets. You can even swallow some of your toothpaste and mouthwash.

There are numerous ways to add fluoride to your diet without adding hazardous waste to mine.”

~ Letter to the editor at York Daily Record submitted on 7/6/12 by Willa Lefever

Nourishing Traditional Diets – Online Class – The Key to Vibrant Health
Join Sally Fallon Morell for a series of seven online classes Tuesday evenings July 10, 17, 24, 31 and August 7, 14, 21 from 7:30 – 9:00 pm EST. View details and registration

Sonnewald is planning a reunion of those who have lived or worked on the farm and those who have worked in the store from 1946 to the present.

We especially need help locating Sonnewald Natural Foods team members from the time we opened at our current location (1996) until 2008. If you have contact information for or can remember names of anyone who worked here during that time, please let us know at info@sonnewald.org.