For former farmer Victoria Lindchan, the catalyst to becoming a small business owner was becoming a parent.
Grateful for food brought over by friends and family during her first pregnancy — all of which, she stressed, “was delicious” — Lindchan told Billy Penn she had been concerned “the value of nutrition at that point wasn’t where I necessarily needed it to be, as a new mom and after birthing a child.”
For her second pregnancy 18 months later, she prepared by stocking her freezer with cases of her homemade bone broth and setting a meal plan; doubly convenient as it coincided with the start of the pandemic. Lindchan continued making broths after the birth of her second child, as well as soups and tea blends, to share with other expecting mothers in her community, including a friend who suggested she expand her efforts into a business.
The result is Earthside Provisions, a meal pick-up/delivery service based out of an East Falls kitchen that provides nourishment for “anybody on a journey,” Lindchan explained, be it postpartum, prenatal, transitioning (“passing on”), or just moving towards a healthier diet.
Focused on easily-digestible, nutrient-dense foods, the menu offers over a dozen bone broth, soup, and stew options, packaged in quarts — from herbal chicken and beef and pork bone broths, to vegan servings like a land and sea soup with daikon radish, burdock root, and wakame. Ingredients are all organic and, when possible, locally sourced. Simmered for 17 hours, the broths can be ordered individually, or as components of larger healing packages that include items from the menu’s other categories.
There are loose-leaf herbal tea blends available by the ounce, as well as snacks and breakfast foods: oatmeal, chia pudding parfaits, a homemade nut-free granola, and vegetarian and chicken congees served with roasted sweet potatoes and tamari jammy pasture raised eggs, with a vegan version also available.
Born in New York to a Polish American mother and Chinese father, Lindchan came to Philly for a degree in fashion design, eventually abandoning the leather bag and fanny pack business she had launched after deciding “this isn’t beneficial for anybody. I wanted to do something that would benefit my community and make a difference.”
Through a friend, she found a job on a Newtown Square family farm, a property large enough to require equestrian, animal husbandry, and farm crews. Lindchan joined the latter, planting and harvesting the land, before moving to the kitchen team — a position that offered creative freedom and access to “endless amounts of chicken and beef bones just sitting in the freezer,” which she repurposed into various broths.
A love for kitchen experimentation and a growing interest in herbalism saw Lindchan explore different flavor combinations. “I’m drinking these teas with all these things in here, why can’t I put these in my bone broth?” she recalled thinking.
There was plenty of trial and error — “I had some interesting batches that I was like, ‘oh, this isn’t for everybody,’”— but further attempts, she said, were met with affirming, and increasingly, glowing responses.
To develop Earthside Provisions’ offerings, Lindchan drew from her seven-year farm experience, as well as her research in traditional Chinese medicine and ayurveda, an alternative medical system with origins in India. Astragalus root, reishi mushrooms and kombu, an edible kelp, are featured across her broths; calendula flower and stinging nettle leaf — singled out by Lindchan as her “favorite plant ally” for its high nutritional value — are frequently used ingredients.
It’s all a “one-woman-momma-show,” with the 41-year-old handling everything from procuring, prepping, cooking, and packaging orders in the shared East Falls kitchen space she rents, to fulfilling deliveries, managing her digital platforms, and setting up weekly at various farmers’ markets.
“Luckily, I have a super supportive partner, so it makes it a lot easier,” Lindchan said of the effort fueling Earthside Provisions. Initial aspirations for a brick-and-mortar were set aside, she explained, with the realization “the amount of work and time that goes into that totally doesn’t outweigh spending time with my kids and my husband.”
Eventually, Lindchan would like to set up an alliance with Lifecycle Womancare, the Bryn Mawr birth center where her children were born, with a freezer of Earthside Provisions products — a set-up she envisions expanding to other birth centers in the area.
For now, the focus remains on deliveries and a steady presence at farmers’ markets; beginning this year, Earthside Provisions has been participating in the Food Trust’s Farmers Market Program. It’s an ideal setup, Lindchan explained, for the face-to-face customer interactions she enjoys and the work-life balance she’s aiming to meet.
“It’s been a really wonderful, and prosperous, and nourishing venture,” Lindchan said, “for myself and my family.”
Earthside Provisions will be at the reopening of Weaver Way’s Farm Market this Friday, March 22, from 12 to 4 p.m.
Beyond that, find Earthside Provisions at:
Fairmount Farmers Market, Thursdays, 3 to 7 p.m.
Clark Park Farmers Market, second and fourth Saturdays, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Headhouse Farmers Market, first and third Sundays, 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. until the end of April.
For more information, visit earthsideprovisions.com or follow them on Instagram.
