Lemon Street Market | Buying Local

1:03:00 PM

Lemon Street Market is probably one of the most expensive grocery stores I have ever experienced in Lancaster City. HOWEVER, they are expensive for a reason. They have curated the freshest, organic, vegan, ecofriendly, local ingredients in the region. From cheeses to beauty products you could probably find a "hoity toity"* version of everything you want in there.

*the adjective used by a coworker when I asked about this place :P

It sounds like I'm being condescending and there are those who do sort of turn up their noses at this place. But I simply say that you need to understand what you're paying for and decide whether it's worth the price.

I will admit, for me, as a poor college student with no kitchen and no real taste for fine dining, not a lot of it is. But it is a great place to understand just how much your local community can actually produce. I think that supporting these "hoity toity" local stores can be amazing because while mainstream health food stores, like Whole Foods, are great, they can dim the spotlight on local wares.

What I love about shopping local is being able to read the label and understand exactly where the product is coming from. And while I probably never would, I could technically drive right to the source of my product and understand completely how and where my product is being produced. There's something very special sbout that.

What was kind of amazing is that there is sort of a community within this place. When visiting with a friend we both noticed a brand of jams that we had seen and tasted at a local organics party in State College and seeing them here was so cool because it meant that things are a lot more connected that we had thought. It was also awesome to know that we had met the owners of this brand and knowing how much care and effort they put into their products, just seeing them is sort of a wonder in itself,

There are candles and house products.

Supplements and condiments.

My dream come true... alternative whipped creams.

And my personal favorite, a whole array of natural and ecological household cleaning products.

They have stations selling refillable containers to minimize waste.

My friend has a refillable hand soap, and I have the dish soap as well as a walnut shell scouring pad.

Beauty products (which I still need to rack up the courage to try)

And wholesale grains and beans, I picked up a back of tricolor quinoa, one of my favorite things especially because I'm not always a big fan of rice.

Local cheeses and dairy products, which were far too expensive for me but are probably well worth it if you're ever trying to impress people at a wine tasting party or something.

Along with my dish soap and scouring pad I also bought a bag of hemp seed, a few fingers of turmeric, and a bottle of rice whip (which i did repurchase one time but have since reverted to my old ways...help me). All of which I was very satisfied with although the whip was a bit pricey.

I'm actually still using the dish soap and scouring pads now that I'm at school. And the beauty of the dish soap bottle is that after I use it up, I could refill it with anything I want! I'm thinking about either castille soap or making my own if a cleaning product refill station isn't handy.

If you're ever in Lancaster, I always recommend visiting at least one local farmers market, but since most of them are only open on certain days of the week, Lemon Street is open Monday through Saturday and whild it's not a famers market, it does give a small taste of the amazing things that Lancaster can produce.