Stake Out Your Summer CSA Now
Looking for farm fresh produce without the hassle of planting your own? Sign up for a CSAs(Community Supported Agriculture) and you’ll get produce straight from a local farm. Aside from the super fresh produce, CSAs also have many eco-friendly benefits and even though all the winter CSAs are already booked up, you should to sign up for your summer share now!
What is a CSA?
CSAs (community supported agriculture) give city dwellers direct access to high quality, fresh produce grown locally by regional farmers. When you sign up and become a member you are purchasing a “share” of produce from a local farmer. Members pay for an entire season of produce upfront and pickup their share weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly at a drop-off point. The members must also volunteer two to four hours to help maintain the CSA.
The Benefits of CSAs
- Helps support small local farms.
- Eat healthy, fresh food, and explore new foods.
- Cut down on the number of miles your food travels from the farm to your plate.
- Connect with the food you eat by meeting your farmers and exploring the farms.
- By direct sales to community members, who have provided the farmer with working capital in advance, growers receive better prices for their crops, gain some financial security, and are relieved of much of the burden of marketing.
- Members share in the risks of farming, including poor harvests due to unfavorable weather or pests.
CSAs to Join
To join a CSA, near you, visit Just Food, Local Harvest, or the Eating Well Guide and do a search by zip code. Here is an example of a few city CSAs in the New York region:
Chelsea CSA: Get fresh, organic vegetables and herbs weekly from mid-June through Thanksgiving from Stoneledge Farm in South Cairo, New York.
LES CSA: From June 1 through the end of October, the family farmers of Monkshood Nursery in upstate NY will deliver locally grown, certified organic produce once a week.
88th Street CSA: Get vegetables and herbs from June to November produced on the Stoneledge Farm which are Certified Organic by NOFA-NY Certified Organic
Merchants’ Gate CSA in Columbus Circle: Fruit and veggies shares are available from June to November. All the produce is sourced from Norwich Meadows Farm, a NOFA-NY certified organic farm.
Fulton Market CSA: Get fresh vegetables, fruits, and other goods (eggs, milk, cheese, honey, and meat) directly from Norwich Meadows Farm, a NOFA-NY certified organic farm.
