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Why Lancaster: Dan Groff
10.15.09 // Posted in Lancaster, Why Lancaster
Typically when I hear the word “dichotomy” my first instinct is to assume that there is a intellectual nearby trying to sound important. But I’m going to have to resort to peppering that word dichotomy throughout the next few paragraphs, because it’s the only one I can come up with to describe my unique perspective of this city.
I guess I have to start by explaining where I come from to some degree. I spent the first 20 years of my life on a dairy farm just outside of town; a farm my parents still own and operate by themselves. Growing up, the City of Lancaster was a jungle of confusion and foreboding. It’s only been in recent years, as friends and relatives have taken up residence downtown that I began to see the city in a new light.
Growing up with agriculture and now working in the business of pork production, I’ve learned that farmers have a certain resentment towards “cityfolk”. There’s a common saying that Pennsylvania is Pittsburgh in the west, Philadelphia in the east, and Alabama in the middle. This perfectly reflects the sentiment by a lot of the agricultural community that rural America is full of hard-working, blue collar people who are destined to be dragged in whichever direction the larger population chooses.
Unfortunately, as society becomes more and more removed from the family farm, these preconceptions and stereotypes become a reality. Land development, economies of scale, and the scrutiny of lenders have forced farmers to move towards increasingly large scale business complexes as opposed to the small family farms that our parents grew up with. Ultimately, the people involved are the same hard-working, blue collar families who would have been raising food for our nation half a century ago, but the economics have changed and many of these families are now contractors instead of sole proprietors.
Because of these dynamics, we grow further and further removed from the people and places who produce our food and care for our natural resources…. At least that would be the case in most cities. This is where that magical “dichotomy” word comes to mind, because Lancaster somehow manages to look forward with energy and enthusiasm while revering the traditions and heritage of the past.
When I tell the average person that I buy pigs for a living, I imagine they picture me, corn-cob pipe in hand, overalls with no shirt and bare feet, swigging moonshine out of a jug with 3 X’s. This stereotype is of course not true as I tend to prefer a hollowed out juniper branch to the corn cob. My point is that in Lancaster, my agricultural heritage is a badge of honor. We have all seen the fervor with which many market patrons search for fresh locally raised meats, dairy, and produce at Central Market. As one small link in that chain, I feel a great sense of gratitude that my fellow farmers are held in such high regard.1|2|3|4|5|6|7|8|9|10|11|12|13|14|15|16|17|18|19|20|21|22|23|24|25|26|27|28|29|30|31|32|33|34|35|36|37|38|39|40|buffy the vampire slayer sexy
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Yet when I walk out the door of Central Market and down the street the landscape is dotted with art galleries, office buildings, and upscale restaurants; heritage and cutting-edge side-by-side. It is this dichotomy that makes Lancaster County so special. Our reverence for agriculture has allowed us to preserve the proximity of farms and franchises, meadows and malls, crops and corporations. Even in a city marked by growth, prosperity, and new discovery we hold true to those whose labors laid the ground work for our wealth of culture. Thank you Lancaster, for being a place where a cow-milking, tractor-riding, pig-buying redneck can hold his head high.
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