There's a new face at the Allentown Fairgrounds Farmers Market, and her name is Lil Miss Organic.
While the sign and business are new to the farmers' market (they launched in February), this gluten-free and vegetarian-based company has been heating up the Lehigh Valley's taste for organic and health-optimized foods for nearly two years.
Founded by Lehigh Valley resident Sarah Cohen, Lil Miss Organic utilizes gluten-free, locally sourced and organic ingredients in all of its food products. Cohen also emphasizes sustainability and a healthy relationship with food while maintaining a strict policy that no peanut, soy, corn or canola oil be used in any of her products.
In addition to the health benefits of organic foods, she hopes that using whole, locally grown ingredients will bring a sense of awareness back to customers' dinner tables.
“We're so disconnected from our food. We can go to the grocery store and buy strawberries in January, and we don't stop to think about where and when that strawberry was grown,” says Cohen. “We can do a more farm-to-table-style menu, and you'll start to see what is happening and growing in your area right now.”
A New Perspective
Cohen wasn't always this way. It took a serious health scare for Cohen to begin exploring dramatic lifestyle changes.
After graduating from college seven years ago, Cohen took a family vacation to Turkey and Greece. She was diagnosed with acute viral pancreatitis shortly after returning to the United States.
“They think it occurred because of something that I ate,” she says, noting that acute pancreatitis can be treated but must be controlled to prevent flare-ups. Doctors recommended avoiding greasy foods, processed items and a long list of trigger foods in order to prevent reoccurrence. These were recommendations that Cohen was eager to follow after a painful, five-day hospital stay.
She started by eliminating these trigger foods and switching to an organic diet. Within several months, Cohen noticed big changes in her health. Her pancreatitis wasn't showing signs of returning, and her frequent migraines had also gone away.
During this time, Cohen was helping her mother explore alternative treatments for an autoimmune disorder. The pair agreed that, because autoimmune disorders can be worsened by inflammation and gluten's inflammatory properties, a gluten-free diet would be worth trying.
Impressed by the changes she noticed in both her mother's and her own health and frustrated by the difficulty of finding gluten-free prepared foods, Cohen officially launched her gluten-free, organic store, Lil Miss Organic, in May 2014. Her recipes typically include a gluten-free flour mix, blended on site.
She continued to research food ingredients, and has since eliminated peanuts (a common allergen), soy and corn (inexpensive fillers that don't add nutritional value), canola oil and agave from the Lil Miss Organic kitchen.
“Any time that I do enough research and see that something is questionable, we pull it. It really affects what I want to put in my food,” she says. “I don't have a dietary background, outside of my own research and the experiments I've done with my own family, but I'm living proof that making these changes is important and beneficial.”
She noted that it can be difficult to modify recipes to fit her company's strict dietary guidelines, but it's ultimately worth it if it makes the products safer for customers with their own dietary needs.
From Humble Beginnings
Inspired by her own health improvements and the benefits she had seen in family members, Cohen initially left a position as director of marketing for a local construction company to found Lil Miss Organic.
“I had a flash of what my life would be if I stayed in that role,” she says. “After some soul-searching, I started this business with absolutely nothing.”
Cohen began her business based in the kitchen of the Bnai Abraham Synagogue in Easton. By necessity of the workspace, her products were (and remain) kosher. Lil Miss Organic began small, selling primarily baked goods to roughly 200 customers each month through their Easton base and outdoor markets throughout the area.
Cohen has always had big plans for the business, but admits that she “fell into” the Allentown Fairgrounds Farmers Market—which gives her the potential to increase her customer exposure by tenfold.
“I had an amazing opportunity to get into Allentown. If you're familiar with the farmers market, [you know] it's very difficult to get into,” she says.
Lil Miss Organic's new stand was previously used to sell foods that were prepared off-site. This necessitated a complete remodeling and the installation of a full kitchen, as the business plans to prepare foods out of its stand seven days a week. (The Allentown Fairgrounds Farmers Market is open to the public Thursdays through Saturdays.)
While Lil Miss Organic began by selling baked goods, they are actively shifting gears to supply gluten-free and vegetarian-based entrees, including main courses, side dishes, soups and salads. They are also connecting with like-minded local companies to offer other products, including gluten-free bagels from Sweet Note Bakery in Bensalem. Another long-term goal is to become certified as a kosher, gluten-free and non-GMO catering company.
“We don't have a lot of safe places for people with celiac [disease] to go in our area. The business has really been organically forming as we learn more about customer needs,” she says. “We'll also be able to serve the kosher community, which is a big deal in this area.”
Perhaps the best symbol of Lil Miss Organic's humble roots, and its dedication to remaining grounded, is its farm stand sign. The sign was handmade by Cohen and her employees.
“We made the sign for the stand out of reclaimed barn wood,” she says proudly. “We are very hands-on and do everything from the ground up. We make all of our own signs, our displays, everything. We are, for the most part, a female-run company. We have one or two male employees, but for the most part, we are all young girls trying to make this happen.”
A Bright Future
Because Lil Miss Organic is a seasonally-based company, their menu offerings will change as their farm and providers' crops rotate. Menus will also evolve as the company adapts to its new clients' needs.
With early spring finally here, the stand's winter-based treats featuring squash, pumpkin and cold-weather comfort foods such as vegan “super food brownies,” chewy granola and vegan coffee and cashew cream tarts (with a chocolate crust!) are making way for dishes highlighting the fruits of our local springtime harvest—garlic, berries and eventually peaches and other summer treasures. Cohen also has big plans for our area's plentiful fall crops.
“We grow as much as we can out of our own farm, based on Glowing Orb Acres in Riegelsville,” she says, noting that the winter's odd weather has certainly made planning ahead more difficult than most years. “It all has to do with what Mother Nature has in store for us.”
Cohen plans to continue sourcing only organic ingredients, and utilize locally-grown ingredients (preferably from their own farm, or a nearby supplier) whenever possible. She also hopes to purchase her own farm in the near future, which will allow the company more space to grow and ensure additional control over their harvest.
“Growing ingredients whenever possible, and using locally-sourced ingredients, was important to me for a variety of reasons. Growing up, my mom and I always had a garden. There's a special connection with taking a seed and growing it into something that can help your community,” she says. “Farming and producing food for others, so that people can just go to the store and buy food, is a huge task. It's important for me to give back and to show the community that this is what we need to do to help each other.”
She has received overwhelmingly supportive responses to Lil Miss Organic's mission and food products.
“I've had a lot of positive comments, and people telling me that they've never had food taste so fresh,” says Cohen. “There's four ingredients in the average product. The reason it's so good is because it's made using fresh ingredients, and I can tell you exactly where every ingredient [comes] from. And I think that at a corny level, knowing exactly where your food comes from is very cool.”
484.747.3434 | lilmissorganic.org
