Sprout Food and Farms is expanding. The business opened in May in the old florist’s greenhouse at the corner of Pine and Depot streets with plants for home gardeners and microgreens for area restaurants.
But owner Dave Chalek has been working his connections at family farms in New Jersey and Pennsylvania and he’s got a lot more to offer now. Things like fresh Jersey corn, tomatoes and peaches, onions, eggs, cheese and organic, grass-fed beef and pork. He’s going to be adding chicken soon.
If you like to know exactly where your food is coming from, Chalek is dealing with farms like Olivia Farms in Glen Gardner, Sunset View Farm in Andover, Parks Farms in Chester and Donaldson Farms in Hackettstown. Chalek is very conscious of food miles–how far edibles travel from farm to consumer–and he’s keeping his sourcing to 150 miles or less from Verona. (To put that in perspective, Florida tomatoes travel more than 1,000 miles to get to New Jersey plates and California broccoli is almost 3,000 fossil-fuel-powered miles away.)
Sprout is open seven days a week from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Cash, credit cards and checks are accepted. Produce offerings will change with the growing seasons.
Good to know! I would not have bumped into since I rarely pass those streets, so now, I’ll got look for Sprouts. Thanks!