Business & Tech

Lois' Produce Prides Itself on Quality Foods

Owner says farming is 'in my blood'

by LeighAnne Manwarren

Lois Allensworth was always the tomboy of her family, helping out at her father’s family farm, so it felt natural for her to start her own farm when she grew up.

Allensworth is the owner of Lois’ Produce, a market vendor who caters to six farmers markets in the D.C. area, including the Oak Marr Farmers Market.

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“My father grew produce and I have always been right on in there, and I was the ‘third son.’ I was the tomboy of the bunch. I just had it in my blood,” Allensworth said.

Lois’ Produce began selling tomatoes in the late 80’s when the Allensworths were told their eldest daughter needed braces.

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Lois went to her father and asked if he wanted to contribute to the cost of his granddaughter’s braces. He gave Lois free use of 3 acres, which started it all, she said.

Lois started with roadside stands in the Annapolis, Md., area and later began marketing at farmers markets, she said.

“All along as a teenager, I did farmers markets with my father,” Lois said. “When I was really young, I would do door to door and we would sell produce from the back of my father’s truck, so we have been doing this all of our lives."

The farm that the Allensworths grow produce on now is Lois’ husband’s family farm in Leedstown, which has been in his family for five generations going back to the late 1800s, she said.

Lois’ Produce not only services farmers markets but also has relationships with Clyde’s restaurants and the Whole Foods markets in the D.C. area, Lois said.

Lois said her relationship with Clyde’s restaurants began in 1987 when the restaurant approached the Allensworth farm about growing niche herbs such as thyme and garlic.

“I have a good enough rapport with Clyde’s that if I have something in large amounts I can call the corporate chefs for Clyde’s and they will feature in their restaurant, my product and put it on their marquee,” Lois said. “They are really, really great to work with.”

Through Lois’ Produce’s farmers market business, Lois said she got her foot in the door with Whole Foods and now is a seller to 10 northern Virginia Whole Foods stores and met with TV chef Emeril Lagasse, who has featured the farm twice on his show.

Lois said she and her husband’s family farms are prime vegetable farms because they are easy to irrigate.

Lois’ Produce uses the least amount of pesticides for their growing practices on the 110 acre farm.

“My husband calls it a big garden, I think it is a bit bigger than that,” Lois said.

To learn what is in season and more about Lois’s Produce, visit there website http://loisproduce.com/home.html.

Oak Marr Recreation Center hosts the Oak Marr Farmers Market weekly, from 8 a.m. to noon Wednesdays.


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