Community Supported Agriculture

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Cooking Up A Story on January 10, 2008 at 9:33am

Hey Mark:

Funny you should start this just now! I was just about to post 'Food Network: CSA' video (I know you added it a few days ago, and I'm not sure of the protocol here, but thot it wouldn't hurt to post again...sorry if I'm out of line) and also the journal entry that was posted with it. There is a farmer here in town who is very active in the community when it comes to urban farming. Her name is Laura Masterson. She brings up some great points about food, where we get it from, how we can possibly keep it local when developers come in and buy farmland and turn it into more homes. Of course, that would easily be another thread. Her point is, once a farm has been developed, it's gone forever, never to be a farm again.

I have no scheme. You might want to contact Laura. I think she would be wiling to help. http://www.47thavefarm.com/ She's a dynamo. Many CSA's are supported by restaurants in this area (as you will see an example in the film). They vary from casual to very pricey.

When I eat out at a restaurant that has prepared from locally produced food, I can tell a difference. Recently I had poached eggs at a small diner that bought their ingredients from local growers. I couldn't believe the taste of the eggs! I asked our server, who informed me the eggs were from a farm less than 20 miles away and were collected and delivered within 5-7 days; this as opposed to the 2-3 weeks from nest to shelf at the grocery store. When I lived in the Bay Area in the early 80's, Alice Waters was known for her locally grown salad greens. It was one of the things that made Chez Panisse stand out from the crowd.

I'm all for supporting our local farmers. It's fresher, tastier, and, when it comes to organics, there are more nutrients. I wish you the best of luck with your CSA scheme.

Rebecca

Permalink Reply by Mark McKellier on January 19, 2008 at 2:18pm

Hi Rebecca,
It is a smallwolrd! We get our eggs locally from a free range farm - the eggs are collected in the morning and we get them in the afternoon - can't get fresher than that!
There is a growing trend in the UK for householders to keep hens in there garden, using hens rescused from battery farms and using this fantastic hen house!
We're saving up for one!

Permalink Reply by Cooking Up A Story on January 19, 2008 at 2:29pm

And it just got a bit smaller!!
I'm filming a story about a group of folks who have started an 'egg co-op' here in town. So I just spent time with the chickens, and I'm going to go hang out with them again Monday morning. I had one of their eggs about 10 hours after it was plucked from the nest. Oh, the flavor was richer, denser than store bought. Now I'm thinking how can I bring chickens to my backyard. So, your hen house link was great!! On top of that I saw a video about building a portable chicken coop that sits perfectly inside a raised garden bed. Fertilize and get your eggs all at once. Sounds ideal to me! I'll go find the video and see if it is shareable.
Rebecca

Permalink Reply by Mark on January 16, 2008 at 1:40pm

Mark,
My only experience with CSA's is being a member of one locally in Atlanta. Our CSA is active from May thru November. We pay monthly and can pick up our box once a week. The CSA decides based on what's plentiful what goes in the boxes (we were lucky this year and had tomatoes into November!).

Since they do not fill from only one farm but pull from many farms, the boxes tend to contain a higher diversity of produce. It also guards against crop failure. Lots of good info on CSAs at: http://www.localharvest.org/csa/ or http://www.organicconsumers.org/. The book Grub is worth a read and offers some suggestions on CSA.

Good luck in your efforts... it's the right thing to do!

Mark

Permalink Reply by Mark McKellier on January 19, 2008 at 2:13pm

Hi Mark, Thanks for your suggestions - I'll see if I can get 'Grub' in the UK.