If you’ve made a commitment to eat healthy, eat local, or to support your local community in 2009, a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) membership is a great way to do it.At Eat Local Food, we believe in and support Community Supported Agriculture (CSA). If you are not familiar with CSA farming, it’s a farmer-consumer direct relationship where the buying public pays the farmer in advance for the promise of fresh produce over the growing season. Some farmers also request a member commitment of work hours to help supplement labor costs. Crop production is then based on membership. Throughout the growing season, members receive their share of produce on a weekly basis either through a common pick-up or delivery system. By receiving funding in advance, the farmer’s production expenses are assured, and by implementing a standardized delivery system, distribution costs are minimized. To get more information about CSA farming, you can visit www.csafarms.org.
Bob and I are proud to be members of Maple Creek Farm, a family operation in the Michigan thumb area, growing acres of certified organic produce in their 15th year of CSA operation. Owned and operated by Farmers Danny and Michelle Lutz, they are committed to local sustainable organic agriculture.
How does membership in Maple Creek Farm work?
Deliveries typically begin in mid-June, during the 2nd or 3rd week of June. Michelle send members e-mail notification of their delivery start date, and what items they can expect in each weekly share. She often includes tips and recipes on how to use the vegetables.
Maple Creek Farm offers a convenient delivery system to CSA members. Serving a large portion of southeastern Michigan, they had 28 drop off locations in 2008. Michelle and Danny’s goal is to have locations throughout the Metro Detroit area that are convenient to pick-up your weekly share. They want the delivery process to go as smoothly as possible and for it to be stress-free for their members. Our pick-up site was approximately one mile from our home. On the same day once a week, you go to your local drop-off location and pick up your box of fresh, locally grown, organic food. You check off your name on the member listing to indicate you picked up your share. Each subsequent week, you bring your collapsed box back to be used again. If you are going to be on vacation or just unable to pick up your share one week, you can let Michelle know in advance, and they will double up on your share the following week. You can also opt to donate your unused share to the Capuchin Soup Kitchen in Detroit.
What is in a share?
The variety is endless. Michelle and Danny have been tracking their organic produce deliveries for several years, and typically they provide 4-6 items per share for the first 4 weeks, which is early in the Michigan growing season. They will mostly be organic greens and other early crops such as organic broccoli, organic strawberries, organic radishes, and organic summer squash. For weeks 5-12 you'll start to receive an increase in items ranging from 8-14 per delivery, including organic peppers, organic eggplant, organic tomatoes, organic corn and organic chard. The last 4-6 weeks will include 6-10 items, including different varieties of organic squashes, organic peppers and organic kale. A share will often include heirloom varieties of fruits and vegetables not typically available at markets.
There are still memberships available for 2009! If you live in the Metro Detroit area, please support a local farmer by joining Maple Creek Farm this year. You’ll feel good about your purchase and do something great for your health at the same time.
For more information about the farm, visit their web site at www.maplecreekfarm.com.
Are you looking for a CSA Farm?
The variety is endless. Michelle and Danny have been tracking their organic produce deliveries for several years, and typically they provide 4-6 items per share for the first 4 weeks, which is early in the Michigan growing season. They will mostly be organic greens and other early crops such as organic broccoli, organic strawberries, organic radishes, and organic summer squash. For weeks 5-12 you'll start to receive an increase in items ranging from 8-14 per delivery, including organic peppers, organic eggplant, organic tomatoes, organic corn and organic chard. The last 4-6 weeks will include 6-10 items, including different varieties of organic squashes, organic peppers and organic kale. A share will often include heirloom varieties of fruits and vegetables not typically available at markets.
There are still memberships available for 2009! If you live in the Metro Detroit area, please support a local farmer by joining Maple Creek Farm this year. You’ll feel good about your purchase and do something great for your health at the same time.
For more information about the farm, visit their web site at www.maplecreekfarm.com.
Are you looking for a CSA Farm?
There are lots of great CSA Farms out there to join. Here are some links to national databases to help you locate a CSA Farm near you:
Local Harvest: http://www.localharvest.org/csa/
NewFarm Farm Locator: http://newfarm.org/farmlocator/index.php
Wilson College, Robyn Van En Center CSA Farm Database: www.csacenter.org
The Eat Well Guide: http://www.eatwellguide.org/
And in Michigan, www.csafarms.org
Local Harvest: http://www.localharvest.org/csa/
NewFarm Farm Locator: http://newfarm.org/farmlocator/index.php
Wilson College, Robyn Van En Center CSA Farm Database: www.csacenter.org
The Eat Well Guide: http://www.eatwellguide.org/
And in Michigan, www.csafarms.org
No comments:
Post a Comment