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Posts Tagged ‘csa’

CSA share: week 2

Posted in csa, fruits, photo, vegetables, tagged on December 5, 2009|

CSA share: week 2

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Flatten your box!

Posted in comic, csa, tagged on November 20, 2009|

Step by step directions

After you sign in, transfer your share into your tote bag. Flatten the box the share comes in. It’s not that difficult if you take a moment to figure it out. Take a look at these step by step photo instructions. Here’s a video of the process.

DO NOT RIP THE BOX! (They are expensive, and because they are waxed, can not be recycled.) When the box is flattened, stack it in the designated area of the pickup site. If you take your share home with box, don’t forget to return it for the next week. The boxes are reused several times during the season.

Don’t worry, you’ll figure out the box thing quickly enough. Enjoy the veggies!

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CSA share: week 1

Posted in csa, fruits, photo, vegetables, tagged on November 20, 2009| 1 Comment »

CSA share: week 1

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Why people join or leave the CSA

Posted in csa, food, locavore, tagged on October 15, 2009| 2 Comments »

People sign up because:

  • They want to get really fresh food straight from the farms, not food that’s been in warehouses, distribution centers and back storage (like buying clubs and co-ops get).
  • They want organic/pesticide-free food.
  • They want to support local farmers.
  • They eat a lot of veggies.
  • Their doctor told them to.
  • They want a ‘greener’ footprint.
  • They’ve been in CSAs in other parts of the country (this category increasing).
  • They were in a buying club or a co-op and realized all they’re getting there is the same exact stuff they can get at the grocery store.

People leave because:

  • They find out they really DON’T eat as many veggies as they thought.
  • They move away.
  • They are uncomfortable with surprises, because they don’t know in advance what they are going to get.
  • They want more of what they call ‘traditional veggies’ — meaning the basic 10 things they buy at the grocery store, some of which don’t grow here, or only during a limited time (in season), and they can’t understand why they can’t get, for example, onions or tomatoes or potatoes at the start of the season (and all season long!).
  • They’re stuck in the grocery store ‘pretty food’ paradigm (ooh, it has a bad spot, throw it out!) and can’t accept ‘real food’ complete with buggies (extra protein, anyone?), and soil (vegetables grow in dirt? can’t we get rid of it?).

Thanks to Farmer Margie for sending me her rant!

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Local farmers in the news again

Posted in csa, farm, location, market, media, tagged , , , on October 13, 2009|

Several months ago, I blogged about Jaideep Hardikar, a journalist from India who was here in the States on a fellowship. He wrote the article The Farmers Among Us that was published in the Sun-Sentinel. The original article profiled several growers who belong to Redland Organics, but is no longer available online. A shortened version was published on the front page of the Business section of the Miami Herald on Tuesday Oct. 13th. You can read it here.

According to the article,

Across the United States, consumers are increasingly buying directly from local farms through a model started decades ago in Switzerland and Japan now known as Community Supported Agriculture.

Nationwide, sales from farms directly to consumers — including CSA and farmers markets — jumped 49 percent from $812 million in 2002 to $1.2 billion in 2007, according to the most recent Department of Agriculture census. That’s twice as many sales as a decade earlier, the federal agency said.

Estimates of active CSA programs vary, but the 2007 U.S. census found more than 12,500 farms selling directly to consumers in every state. The National Center for Appropriate Technology, an agriculture think tank, estimates CSA programs supplied food to more than 270,000 households last year.

Farmer Margie told me that last season she had 440 CSA members, and has 465 members this season. She started Redland Organics CSA in 2002 with only 25 members. There are at least 100 on the waiting list. Turnover varies, maybe about 35%. Margie also mentioned that in January there will probably be a very limited number of trial shares available, and only to those folks already asking about them. She is pretty much at full capacity already. If you’re not a CSA member, but still want to get the same food, you can shop at the South Florida Farmers Market in Pinecrest.

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