Heagy’s Orchard and Second Harvest Food Bank

How local relationships and timely funding produced a fruitful partnership

On a quiet orchard in Crawford County, Sam Heagy was facing a season that hadn’t gone as planned.

A pest issue had devastated all but one of his pear varieties. Bushels that would normally move through farm stands and markets simply weren’t there. All that remained was his Olympic Asian pear crop, an apple-shaped fruit that’s sweet and refreshing with a satisfying crunch.

But even a beautiful crop can become a source of stress without a reliable market. Olympic Asian pears are harvested later in the season, and Sam was beginning to worry that the market where he sells most of his produce would close for the year before he could sell the crop.

So, Sam picked up the phone.

He called Meadow Thompson, Produce and Agricultural Coordinator at Second Harvest Food Bank of Northwest Pennsylvania.

Just days earlier, Meadow had received word about $5 million in emergency funding for food banks to purchase fresh, Pennsylvania-grown food from local farmers through the Pennsylvania Agricultural Surplus System (PASS).

Heagy’s pears would become the very first purchase made with those Emergency PASS funds.

“[Emergency PASS] made it accessible. It made it possible. I didn’t have to even blink about it,” Meadow said. “It was just something that we were able to be like, ‘Yep, absolutely. We have the money. Let’s do it.’”

Meadow’s quick “yes” came at a time when that kind of certainty was rare. For months, food banks across Pennsylvania had been navigating frozen state purchasing funds and disruptions to federal food shipments while hunger continued to rise. The federal government also canceled the Local Food Purchase Cooperative Agreement Program (LFPA), which had allowed food banks like Second Harvest to build and sustain relationships with small, local farmers like Sam.

Emergency PASS funding arrived at the pivotal moment when Second Harvest was working with reduced resources while facing a surge in need from SNAP payment disruptions. It restored their ability to buy fresh, Pennsylvania-grown food and provide stability for both growers and neighbors.

With that simple yes, Second Harvest purchased the entirety of Heagy’s Asian pear crop. For a small farmer, that kind of certainty matters.

To have one buyer come in and be able to say, ‘Yes, I’m interested in purchasing all of it,’” Meadow explained, “that takes a lot of anxiety out of planning for how to sell the entire crop.

Meadow Thompson, second harvest food bank of northwest pa

A Relationship Rooted in Local Food

This purchase was not the beginning of their story.

A self-professed “local food lover,” Meadow has a passion for Pennsylvanian produce and the local farmers who grow it, often perusing stands at local farmers markets. It was at one of these markets that Meadow first met Sam and Preston Heagy, the father-son duo who owns and operates Heagy’s Orchard.

“There’s those special family farms that when you interact with them, they have that feeling of family and heritage and undeniable knowledge of their land,” Meadow said of Heagy’s.

Meadow told them how selling the orchard’s produce to the food bank would create an additional market for their business. For the past two seasons, Second Harvest had been able to bring Heagy’s fruit into the charitable food network through LFPA.

“It helped consume 30% or 40% of my crop that I would otherwise struggle finding a market for,” said Sam. “It took a lot of stress off me to know I had stable market that I could sell my fruit to.”

After LFPA was cancelled, food banks were forced to either stop buying from those farmers or find room in an already-stretched PASS budget. Unfortunately, without LFPA, Second Harvest could no longer afford to regularly purchase from those small farms, including Heagy’s Orchard.

When Emergency PASS funding was announced, Meadow knew exactly what to order first.

Sam was grateful the opportunity to work with the food bank again came just in time, giving him a market for his pears that wouldn’t get sold otherwise at a workable, fair price.

For Meadow, sourcing food is about more than price. It is about relationship, transparency, and respect for the work of farming.

“Being self-employed as a food producer is just such a unique and special thing,” they said. “But it’s also a very, very challenging thing to do. So, I’m always very respectful of the needed amount of money to sustain themselves in their business.”

Supporting Farmers. Strengthening Choice for Families.

The purchase of Heagy’s pear crop was just as crucial for the food bank and the neighbors they serve as it was for Sam.

“It was a critical time. The uncertainty from SNAP and the budget not being passed created an increased need,” Meadow recounted. “Having PASS funding has been absolutely crucial for our food bank to be able to provide fresh and nutritious food to our neighbors.”

In the charitable food system, stretching limited resources is part of the daily reality. Often, sourcing from larger, more distant producers comes at a lower price point. Dedicated local purchasing dollars like PASS create space to make different choices.

“It allows for me to spend my budget on hyperlocal products that might not be as financially within reach,” Meadow explained. “I am able to meet farmers where they need to be met at with how much money they need to be paid for their product.”

That flexibility makes a meaningful difference on both ends of the food system. Farmers receive a fair, sustainable price that supports their business. Neighbors can select fresh, local food that reflects the quality many of us look for in our own grocery stores.

“I always feel so proud to be able to offer to our neighbors items that as a local food lover I would be excited to eat,” Meadow said.

Emergency PASS funding has also helped Second Harvest purchase locally produced milk, yogurt, butter, eggs, culturally appropriate halal meats, and even Italian sausage from an Erie-based company.

“These are items that I would not have been purchasing because I would not have had the funding to do that,” Meadow said. “It’s been such a joy to be able to bring in these products that I’m so proud of, that are local and nutritious and delicious, to be able to provide to our neighbors.”

For Sam, too, the impact goes beyond business.

“It’s an additional blessing when you can benefit other individuals with healthy food like this,” reflected Sam. “It’s a blessing to be part of.”

It is a reminder that Pennsylvania’s food system is deeply connected. When we invest in local farmers, food banks can bring fresh, high-quality food to families. When food banks can say “yes,” farmers can keep growing. And when neighbors have access to food that is fresh, local, and nourishing, entire communities are stronger.