LONG POND, Pa. — With the snip of a ribbon, it became official. Pocono Organics in Tunkhannock Township is open.
"Oh, it's an exciting day here at Pocono Organics. It's been a long time in the making, and we are happy to be able to finally open our doors to the community and provide healthy, nutrient-dense food to them," said Ashley Walsh, Pocono Organics founder.
The 30,000 square-foot facility is right next to Pocono Raceway.
It's self-sustaining and powered by the raceway's already existing solar farm.
Water for crops will come from rain that will be collected and filtered through a living, vegetative roof on top of this state-of-the-art barn.
Ashley Walsh is the founder and tells Newswatch 16, this is more than just a place to buy fresh produce.
"It houses an organic market, a farm cafe that is run by a Chopped Champion Chef Lindsay McLane, and we are happy to have her on board. This is our main process space. We harvest all the greenhouse crops, and we bring them into the facility, we wash and pack them and out the door, they go," said Walsh.
Pocono Organics is partnering with Rodale Institute, a nonprofit that supports research into organic farming.
"Everything that we do is in partnership with other organizations and to be a partner with a fantastic organization represented here by Pocono Organics, Ashley and the rest of the family and enterprises here at Pocono is just an amazing opportunity not just to produce organic food, not just to transition a farm, but to really improve a community and the health of people in that community," said Jeff Moyer, Rodale Institute CEO.
Pocono Organics will be open weekly, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.