About an hour southeast of Bryan Bender’s farm in Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, lies the town of Hanover—affectionately known as the “Snack Food Capital of the World” because of the proliferation of potato chip and other snack food factories in the region.
It’s this proximity that allows Bender’s farm to harvest spuds in the morning that become chips by lunchtime and hit grocery store shelves the very next day.
“That’s what’s great about our location,” Bender said. “We have several chipping companies that are super local.”
Bender’s farm grows seven varieties of white potatoes, including chipping potatoes and table stock potatoes that go to local restaurants, food suppliers and grocery stores. The farm has 450 acres, 140 of which are used for potatoes at a given time. The farm rotates potato fields every three years to rebuild the soil’s health.
The Bender family has been farming in the region since Bryan’s great-grandfather, Charles Bender, started a farm in the 1920s in the spot where Chambersburg Senior High School sits today. Bryan’s grandfather—also named Charles Bender—then bought his own farm about two miles away, where the family farmed until 1965. He then bought the family’s current farm, installed a large pond and began growing potatoes.
Today, Bryan Bender works on the farm with his parents, David and Linda; their niece, Brooke; and a team of employees. Also living on the farm are Bryan’s wife, Betsy, and their three children, Lottie, Hart and Jack.
“We love living here. We love being on the farm, having the space for them to be kids,” Bryan said. “When I’m working, they’re able to come and join in and hang out with me. We love walking down through the woods and playing Wiffle Ball. Just being a family on the farm is really fun.”
Bender said he’s grateful for the farm’s employees as well.
“We’ve got a handful of really faithful employees who I enjoy working with, and I hope they enjoy working for me and with me,” he said. “We try to create an environment where they can thrive and just be themselves, and we really appreciate each other and value one another.”
Bryan’s father, David, who helped grow the farm with his older brother, Charlie, said he’s grateful to see his son continuing their family’s legacy.
“I’m grateful to God for giving me the opportunity to farm and surrounding me with a beautiful family,” he said.
The farmland where Bender’s family now lives and works was first established in 1740. It holds a beautiful, nationally registered historic farmhouse from the 1790s and a 100-year-old barn that is still used today to store hay and potatoes.
Bender’s farm is also part of the Pennsylvania Cooperative Potato Growers, which brings together local growers to help meet demand.
“Even though we’re smaller, if we work together we can meet some large orders, the large demand for potatoes, and just promote the potato nationally,” Bender said.
Although most of the potatoes produced on his farm are for chips, Bender said his favorite type of potato is french fries.
He added that potato farming is often both a challenge and an adventure.
“You’ve got to be willing to work hard,” he said. “You’ve got to trust other people. Everything’s always changing, so you’ve got to be flexible. You’ve got to be willing to have a little adventure and try new things. There’s always something new, a new challenge to try to overcome. I love that.”