Innovation

Started in 2006 and opened in 2010, Lucky Penny Farm advocates for sustainable farming. Lucky Penny Farm is a local farm in Kent, Ohio that specializes in producing dairy products made by goats. Abbe is trying to help people connect back to where food actually comes from - the farms. In addition to her farm, Abbe also runs goat yoga, wine and cheese tasting classes, and is an author. Her book, "The land of Milk and Money”, talks about the difficulties and rewards of running a farm and business in the modern world, as well as her experience as a female entrepreneur and farmer.

Her mission and farming style aligns the business with the UN SDG 12: responsible consumption and production. She is also involved with promoting financial stability and improving yields for local farmers; this initiative advances UN SDG 2: Zero Hunger, specifically target 2.3. Lucky Penny Farm's goal to maintain ecosystems and promote clean farming fits well with UN SDG 2 target 2.4 as well, sustainable food production and resilient agricultural practices. Additionally Abbe’s goal to get more women into farm leadership positions aligns with the UN SDG 5: gender equality. It is her hope that people discover the true importance of the food they eat, eating local and organic, and supporting their local economies.

Inspiration

Abbe has always been happiest outside and on her farm. It is very important to her to stay connected to the land where her food comes from. “People don’t realize the true cost of buying food at the grocery store. It’s too cheap. They don’t take into account the cost of fuel to ship the food, the labor it takes to harvest it, the toll it takes on the land to produce it.” All of her products are organic and preservative-free, and Abbe uses them to help educate and connect people back to the farm. She’s also constantly looking for ways to improve her products and likes to experiment with different ideas and flavors. Her favorite part about selling her product is when she gets compliments from customers at the farmer's markets. “Even if they tell me something as simple as my product tastes as good as what their grandmother used to make, it makes me happy.”

Overall impact

Lucky Penny Farm is a local, small scale farm to table business that creates sustainable jobs which contribute to the local economy. Specifically, Abbe encourages women to get involved in farming, both at Lucky Penny and in their own endeavors. In addition to Lucky Penny’s impact on the local economy and job market, the Farm has a much smaller impact on the environment than large scale farm operations. This is due mainly to the more sustainable grazing methods used and the smaller herd, which allows the Farm to more closely monitor its animals. Finally, the Farm creates more consumer awareness surrounding where their food comes from and the importance of consuming responsibly.

When people shop at farmers’ markets and buy their food products from farms located a few miles away from their homes as opposed to a few hundred miles away, they get to directly interact with the people producing the food. This leads to increased awareness of how energy intensive farming is and how valuable its products are, leading to lower consumer food waste.

Overall, Abbe and Lucky Penny Farm create jobs in the farming industry for women, contribute to the local economy, and increase consumer awareness of farming practices and the impact that food waste has on the environment. The Farm’s small scale allows a smaller environmental footprint than large farming operations, and its direct interaction with its customers via farmers’ markets creates a direct line of communication between farmers and consumers.

Business benefit

Lucky Penny Farm provides food that is high quality, preservative free, and sustainable. This has helped the farm attract people who value the slow food movement. Essentially, this movement promotes local businesses as well as the shift from processed to unprocessed foods. Typically, grocery stores need to sell their products at low and competitive prices. This causes farms to lower their cost of production which unfortunately utilizes unhealthy preservatives and harms the environment. Yet, because Lucky Penny Farm has a customer base that values slow foods, their customers have a higher willingness to pay. Thus, Lucky Penny Farm is able to afford the higher cost of production that big farms and grocery stores cannot afford. The farm recognizes that the importance of locally produced slow foods was especially prevalent during the COVID-19 pandemic. During this time, national food chains broke and local foods needed to act to help provide the community with food. This resulted in the farm gaining more business as they helped the community during this challenging time.

Social and environmental benefit

America is currently struggling from a food problem. Not a lack of it, but the fact that national supply chains of food has brought a number of harsh side effects with it. Most dairy products in traditional grocery stores are packed with harmful preservatives that allow it to last the long distances from the farm to the store. In addition to this, as mentioned earlier, there are a ton of additional costs that exist behind the curtain. It’s clear that action is needed.

Lucky Penny Farm is aiming to fix these issues with their line of wholesome, direct to consumer dairy products. When consumers such as you or me choose to go with the local option, the harmful byproducts for traditional dairy products is replaced with an alternative free of those pitfalls. Over time, this lowers greenhouse gases, makes food cleaner, and reminds people that food is to be valued and not overlooked. That being said, Lucky Penny Farm can’t do it alone. Abbe hopes to use her farm as an example for what direct to consumer, local dairy can look like and, in turn, inspire others to join her in the slow food movement.

Interview

Abbe Turner, Owner/Founder