Lemon Street Market in Downtown Lancaster provides its customers with a shopping experience filled with green practices
by Carlos Sedano
The lemon street market has been a staple in downtown Lancaster for years. Owner Trish Haverstick has made a total commitment to sustainability in all forms when it comes to running the market. Lemon Street Market is also known for participating in and supporting local services to the community, such as Court Appointed Special Advocates, or CASA.
BIG 4
Among their customers and employees, Lemon Street Market focuses on the “Big Four” types of recyclables. these include specifically metal food and drink containers, corrugated cardboard, plastic bottles just with necks, and lastly glass bottles and jars. Lemon Street Market features specialized recyclable areas in the building to allow for the proper disposal of items that can be reused and recycled.
REDUCING FOOD WASTE
Food waste is another issue that Lemon Street tackles frequently. Most stores will throw away any food that is past a certain level of “Marketability” in terms of its quality. At Lemon Street, certain times or food that are slightly past its prime will be sold at reduces prices as long as they are still safe to eat. At supermarkets, plenty of the product has gone soft or has bruises which result in squishy, undesirable food that gets left behind to rot and rot. Often time these foods are completely thrown away. Lemon Street produce workers will carefully select the “bad apples” from the various products and discount them so that they are more likely to be bought as used instead of being thrown away to waste in the garbage. Even when food items have gotten to the point where they should not be used or consumed, they are not just thrown away in the trash. Workers in the produce department will collect and use any scraps or food waste in local or personal compost bins. this is using food waste as a natural fertilizer. all of these tactics help to reduce food waste across the board.
REDUCING EMISSIONS
Another way that Lemon street practices sustainability is through its vendors themselves. Lemon Street focuses on local vendors the most, not only to show support for local communities but to also cut down on massive amounts of exhaust fumes which increase overall vehicle pollution in the area. Delivering produce from the opposite side of the country creates a lot more pollution than delivering produce from a farm less than thirty minutes away. The lemon street will also return certain containers to the vendors so that they may be reused and recycled.
Such items include
- Plastic milk crates
- Glass milk bottles
- Wax cardboard boxes
- Plastic pallets Aside from being sustainable with brands they closely work with Lemon Street has also been known to cut ties with brands that do not practice sustainability
CUTTING TIES
In recent years, avocado farmers from Mexico have been met with controversy due to legal issues involving worker rights violations and the destruction of natural monarch butterfly environments. In recent years, avocado farmers from Mexico have been met with controversy due to legal issues involving worker rights violations and the destruction of natural monarch butterfly environments. Due to this, Lemon Street no longer carried avocados from Mexico because they refused to support brands and farms that did not practice sustainability and are known to violate human and worker rights.
DOLPHIN SAFE PRODUCTS
A similar example includes their selections of canned tuna and other seafood. When it comes to tuna, they only carry brands that have the Dolphin-Safe certification. This seal means that no dolphins were harmed while catching the tuna for said product. A cruel and unsustainable practice with tuna fishermen is to follow pods of dolphins because they often school with tuna. Unfortunately, this means that many dolphins are caught and killed while trying to fish for tuna. This is a practice Lemon Street Market cannot support due to its unsustainability and cruelty.
THEIR GOAL
Thankfully, lemon Street Market strives to provide their customers with Eco-friendly and sustainable options for all of their grocery needs. if you are ever looking for a business that truly practices sustainable and green business practices, look no further than Lemon Street Market, located at the corner of Mulberry and Lemon Street in downtown Lancaster City.
Lemon Street’s Owner
Lemon Street Market is a woman-owned grocery store that has been in Lancaster City for years. Owner Trish Haverstick has created a large focus within the store on products that are accessible to people with all kinds of food allergies or restrictions. Because she dealt with food restriction issues throughout her life, Trish set out to create an environment that supports and caters to those who may also have food restriction issues such as herself. With the help of her mother Lolita, Trish introduced gluten-free options throughout the store for customers who are celiac and cannot consume gluten-based products. Trish has considered other food restriction conditions while curating a large selection of grocery products in her store. This has led to more pleased customers and a more connected community.
A Faithful Vendor
Not only does Trish herself bring in non-gluten options into the market, but her mother Lolita does as well with her brand of gluten-free items. Lolita is one of the vendors in the store. Because Lolita had always been making gluten-free foods for Trish, she was no stranger to making alternative ingredient foods. Lolita sells all kinds of baked goods that are gluten-free. One of the ingredient alternative snacks for those who may have a specific food allergy include her avocado-based chocolate pudding. So if you’re ever looking for a gluten-free alternative cookie, cake, pudding, or bread, look no further than Lolitas Gluten-Free Goods.
SOURCES
Avocados From Mexico Violations
Christian Wagner, 5 D. 2019. (n.d.). Are Mexican avocados the next ‘conflict commodity’? Verisk Maplecroft. Retrieved December 3, 2022, from https://www.maplecroft.com/analysis/are-mexican-avocados-the-next-conflict-commodity/
Lemon Street Market Info
About US – values & history. Lemon Street Market. (n.d.). Retrieved December 2,2022, from https://www.lemonstreetmarket.com/about
Dolphin – Tuna Safe Page
Fisheries, N. O. A. A. (2022, September 22). Dolphin-Safe. NOAA. Retrieved December 3, 2022, from https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/national/marine-mammal-protection/dolphin-safe#:~:text=In%20order%20for%20tuna%20to,during%20the%20fishing%20trip%20in
Photos of Trish Haverstick And Lolita Haverstick courtesy of Lemon Street Market. Not My Photos