Our love affair with farms and famers has reached new heights as the local food movement has elevated the bounty of our region. It is almost weekly, that a crop, grown locally for decades, becomes the darling of the foodie world. For example, tomatoes, long a cornerstone of local agriculture, have been elevated to rock star status with books, articles and endless blogs extolling its varietals and flavors.
And in this newfound appreciation of local agriculture, a cooperative growing and distribution process called CSA – community supported agriculture – has proliferated. Just Food, the leader in connecting local farms to New Yorkers, has facilitated over 80 city CSA’s since 1996 and explains as follows:
“CSA allows city residents to have direct access to high quality, fresh produce grown locally by regional farmers.
When you become a member of a CSA, you’re purchasing a 'share' of vegetables from a regional farmer.
Weekly or bi-weekly, from June until October or November, your farmer will deliver that share of produce to a convenient drop-off location in your neighborhood."
CSA members pay for an entire season of produce upfront (typically $400-$600). This early bulk payment enables your farmer to plan for the season, purchase new seed, make equipment repairs, and more."
GP has taken the CSA concept into the corporate world capitalizing on the current trend of employer involvement in the health and wellbeing of employees. The twist on this CSA concept is that employers buy weekly bags of produce – tailoring the amount and size of the purchases to meet their needs. What’s more, a GP chef can be hired to teach the recipients how to cook week’s harvest.