Harner Farm

Harner Farm is more than a food supplier…

Harner Farm (2191 W. Whitehall Rd) is a local family farm in State College runs by Dane Harner and his families since 1945. Harner Farm is a very accessible farm close to downtown, and this location advantage makes it a very popular place for local people.

I am very interested to see what happened to the food before it is been served on plate. I would like to share the farm story with more people because I believe it is important for everyone to appreciate the efforts people put into the food industry. Farm is one of the origins of food, so I started the farm documentary in summer 2020. COVID-19 makes it a very hard project, and Harner farm was the first farm accept my photography request after I received 5 rejections from other local farms.

Pick your own apple —the very first thing I noticed of Harner Farm.

The owner, Dane Harner told me that they create this “pick your own fruit” style because it is very challenge to find fruit picker locally, and the family does not have enough hand to pick all the apples from tree. Also, people really enjoy picking fruit by themselves.

There is a certain way Harners run their farm and the retail farm store. Women from the family work at retail during weekdays while men working at farm and preparing for the weekend sale. Men only come to the front retail during weekends help selling. I only see six people running the farm during the time I spend there.

As I keep getting familiar with the family, I assume this farm documentary would be going smoothly. However, there were some misunderstanding happened between us for [what can be documented] in the farm. I only got one chance to walk into their farm land observing what their daily farming routine looks like. The second day after that, they rejected me entering the farm for photos, and our agreement on documenting the apple cider making process on that day also won’t work.

I wasn’t expected to receive the last minute rejection on documenting apple cider making. I was carrying all the photo equipment I prepared for cider day, and standing in front of trays of apples, feeling sad and panic. Dane turned back to work after he left me the rejection words.

Luckily, I still have the permission to take pictures at the retail. I decided to change my focus from the farm owner to their customers. It turns out that I collected many beautiful face, comments, and stories relates to the farm. I also had a better understanding what Harner Farm means to the locals.

Harner Farm is not just a fresh food supplier, it creates a new dynamic between farm, play and community.

Questions I will ask: Is this your first time in Harner? What brings you here? What do you want other people know about Harner?