While popular culture isn’t exactly offering up healthy-life-choice
alternatives, the past decade or so has seen increased public discussion
surrounding our impending dietary doom. Films like Robert Kenner’s “Food,
Inc.” and literature by Michael Pollan and Barbara Kingsolver warn us
that, it may not be today, it may not be tomorrow, but the end of human health
and epicurean freedom as we know them has been in the works for decades, a
callous side effect of big business. And all the while, we seem to have been
sleeping, or living that American dream where convenience trumps all.
Kenner’s “Food, Inc.”
reveals in shocking detail what the profit-driven corporations behind our
current food industry have accomplished while we were not paying attention, and
what we sacrificed in the mad pursuit of convenience and seeming abundance. The
film describes, among other things, how corn has been subsidized by the
government, has inundated our dietary system, is fed to livestock that haven’t
evolved to digest it, thus causing ailments which are treated with antibiotics,
which has led to the mutation of new strains of the E. coli, causing tens of
thousands of people to fall ill annually. Those running the system are aware of
this, and yet greed drives them onward. An inspiring call for the system to
return to public hands concludes the documentary, but upon arriving home, that
sense of urgency may have dwindled to a complacent return to the all-powerful
convenience of the status quo, even in the face of the newest food-based E.
coli outbreak, which sparked the recall of 1 million pounds of beef in August.
Suspended in precarious limbo are our health, economy, community, and some
farmers who would love to turn it all around. We have the capacity to change
the course we’re on, they argue, and for many, that solution is to get involved
with local community-supported agriculture.
CSAs embody the partnership between farmers and consumers, often without a
middleman like a grocer or distributor. CSA members purchase shares, make payments
to the farm in advance, and throughout the season, receive a share of the
weekly harvest. In some cases, members are required to work a few hours per
week on the farm; in other cases the work-share element takes the place of all
or a part of the payment. Farmers are thus able to receive payment upfront and
purchase materials without going into debt, and consumers benefit from the
convenience of knowing their fresh, local, and often organic produce is paid
for, with no built in cost for packaging, marketing, or long-distance travel
involved.
Upwards of 30 farms within an hour of Rochester
offer various kinds of CSA shares, most commonly in the May-November season,
but a number offer winter shares as well. Joining is a simple matter of
researching the right fit for you (refer to the sidebars), contacting the
farmer, and making a payment. Full CSA shares, which include seven to 10
different items of produce a week – enough to feed a four-person family or two
vegetarian adults – and vary greatly in price, but most commonly run between
$300-$680 for a season of about 22-26 weeks, meaning that you spend about
$12-$31 per week on produce. Some farmers offer a sliding scale, and some offer
partial shares to single people. But many single shareholders have expressed
that it’s not difficult to find a couple of friends to share the share.
The arguments for supporting locally grown and organically
produced foods are plentiful, but chief among them is a fresher, more
sustainable, healthier product that is good for you and the environment.
Belonging to a CSA achieves all of this, plus the discipline of trying
something different: you will likely be exposed to vegetables you don’t usually
consume, or haven’t even heard of. There will be challenges in your switch to
focusing locally, but there are CSAs that fit every lifestyle and every need,
and the best way to tweak a system to perfection is to participate in it.
Erin Bullock of Mud Creek Farm on McMahon Road
in Victor is “afraid that food is seen as a cheap commodity compared to
other things,” she says. Good farming land immediately surrounding the
city is taken up with suburbs and development projects, pushing farmers further
and further out, the isolation less convenient for everyone. “We need
government-level policy to protect good farmland for food,” says Bullock,
who rents the land she farms on, because she can’t pay more than developers who
want to claim the suburban territory. The demand for shares is quickly
outgrowing what the business can handle – there is a waiting list to join the
co-op for next season – and Bullock is looking to hire full-time farmer
interns.
Mud Creek supplies full shares to about 150 members, as well as the vegan
Ethiopian bistro Natural Oasis on Monroe Avenue.
Green-thumbed Bullock has always been passionate about plants, and prior to
apprenticing with farmers and then striking out on her own three years ago, she
worked as a landscape architect, “growing flowers for rich people,”
she says, before she decided that putting organic vegetables on peoples’ tables
was a better use of her talents. She sees herself as a health-care provider,
and wants people to consider “the cost of treating long-term disease”
when they choose their foods. She also wants residents on development
committees to think about “the quality-of-life issue; the value given to a
community by keeping a farm here.”
The work-share element is not required at Mud Creek, but those who choose to
help harvest spend 4.5 hours on the farm per week instead of paying cash for
their produce. CSA members pick up their shares at the farm, and also receive
unlimited pick-your-own herbs, green beans, cherry tomatoes, and more. Bullock
says that the opportunity to be out in the field is “really satisfying for
many people,” adding that people stay out in the garden even when it’s
raining. Almost everyone brings kids, she says, and they get to learn about
where food comes from. “The computer generation is very separated from the
mud,” she says. Bullock’s dream situation involves enthusiastically appreciated
farming communities in closer proximity to urban areas, with shared equipment
and an increased social element, like regular potlucks.
Rochester artist Mary
Lewandowski partakes of the work-share element at Mud Creek Farm, and says it’s
a great way to afford organic food (this season’s full share cost $575). The
benefits of eating what’s in season in your region include peak freshness and
flavor, and a higher nutritional value, and Lewandowski sees local eating as a
natural “combatant against local illness.” She splits her share with
two people, and even gives some away. “The vegetables are absolutely
amazing,” says the self-described “food-centric person,” citing
“chard as big as your torso” as evidence of the bounty. “And
it’s great to get out of the city for a while; it’s beautiful on the
farm.”
“We took over a failing CSA with 100 members 15 years
ago and now have over 900 members,” says CSA manager and high-school
science teacher Katie Porter. Porter Farms, founded in 1958 by Porter’s
grandfather, is located about 45 minutes from Rochester
in Elba. The farm used to ship wholesale to Chicago
and Florida. “We made this
decision to start a CSA at our farm to diversify our operation,” she says.
“The wholesale business is tough, and we liked the idea of keeping our
vegetables right here in Western New York.”
Porter Farms offers certified organic vegetables, and also just planted
raspberries and other berries, as well as an orchard with peaches, pears, and
apples, which Porter plans to incorporate into the CSA as they become
available. The farm offers only the full share, “which typically is a good
size for a family of four,” says Porter, and members can pick up their
shares at the farm, or at one of the 14 drop-off points in Rochester,
which include most suburbs and a few downtown locations. Work share is not
required.
“Our CSA could support between 2000 and 3000 members,” Porter
says. “We supply onions and cabbage to Whole Foods in Boston
and Manhattan. We also sell some of
our produce to Hawthorne Valley Farm, Tuscarora Organic Growers, Lexington
Cooperative Market, and two Feel Rite stores.”
Many CSAs require members to sign up before the beginning of a harvest
season, but Porter Farms accepts members throughout the summer and prorates the
price. It also offers a “guest bag program,” where potential members
can receive a free one-week share before deciding to sign up for the full
season. Members receive a weekly newsletter, which provides farm news, reports
what can be found in the share that week, and includes a recipe for something
included in the share.
At 22 years old, GVOCSA (Genesee Valley Organic Community
Supported Agriculture) is the oldest CSA in this area, says Elizabeth
Henderson, retired co-founder of Peacework Farm, a 30-year veteran of organic
farming. Henderson began the Peacework in Newark in 1998 with Greg Palmer, and
was joined by Ammie Chickering in 2000. “We started the GVOCSA back in
1988-89 because we could see that organic vegetables from far away would
eventually undersell locally grown crops, and we wanted to connect with local,
loyal customers who value fresh food from a local farm.”
Peacework Farm supplies certified organic (by Northeast Organic Farming
Association of New York) vegetables and herbs to its roughly 300 member households,
and also to Abundance Cooperative Market, where the CSA pick up is located. The
farm grows 70 different crops and close to 250 varieties, including all the
usual popular vegetables as well as some “less-well-known, like mizuna,
tat soi, and rutabagas,” Henderson says, and both full and partial shares
are offered. “Many of the families that belong to GVOCSA have been with us
over a decade, some as long as 21 years. There is a wonderful feeling of
community.”
Henderson shed some light on the community-connecting importance of joining
a CSA. Members agree to “share the risk” with their farmers, taking
less if the season is bad and more if the season is good. That provides the
farmers with a steady income, helping to preserve local farming and farm land.
“When you make the commitment to provide a certain number of crops a week
for a certain number of weeks, you are making a big promise, and sometimes it
is nerve wracking. But the rewards of growing food you are proud of for people
you get to know is tremendously satisfying,” Henderson says. “When
you know your customers, you really want to do the best job you can. The best
guarantee of food safety is the fact that family-scale farmers are also eating
the food they sell. They are not likely to take shortcuts that will make their
family and neighbors sick.”
Every member of GVOCSA is required to commit either two or three four-hour
harvest sessions per season at the farm (depending on the size of their share)
and two two-and-a-half hour distribution sessions at the Abundance Coop, or
become an even more hands-on member of the core group that administers the
project.
You might wonder how farmers manage to find the time to
grow and coordinate CSAs, farm stands, and provide food to the various venues
they need to in order to get by. One local former farmer and sustainability
enthusiast may have found a viable solution. Chris Hartman is founder and
manager of the mega-CSA Good Food Collective, which partners with 10 regional
farms, including Mud Creek in Victor, ranging from about 16 miles to about 55
miles outside of Rochester, and GFC delivers shares from those participating
farms to various locations in Rochester. Hartman says that the idea for GFC was
born out of his work with the South Wedge Farmers Market and the small
sustainable farmers that have been part of that venture. He aims to figure out
how those farms can connect more people with access to local, organic foods.
“It’s a bit daunting for a lot of farmers to imagine growing 40
different crops and supplying to families,” Hartman says. But
“multi-farm” CSAs allow farmers to pick three to six different crops
that work well with a farm, its soils, its personality, and its infrastructure
and focus growing those crops in volume, and then work collaboratively with other
farmers to put together everything that goes into a CSA, he says. “This
allows the share-buyers more consistent diversity in food, and more confidence
in the consistency in what’s going to be grown and how much members will
get,” he says.
Good Food Collective distributes not only at the South Wedge market, which
is open to anyone who would like to join, but also to CSAs offered through
employee-wellness initiatives at the University of Rochester Medical Center and
Rochester Institute of Technology. This “allows us to scale up and connect
with people who wouldn’t be part of a traditional CSA,” Hartman says, and
convenience is added by creating a pick-up site at the workplace, out of his
big green distribution truck. GFC also offers CSA through Breathe Yoga in
Pittsford, but without the truck. Hartman is working on a downtown location for
next season.
Hartman co-founded the South Wedge market, which takes place Thursday nights
through October behind Boulder Coffee on Alexander Street, with his wife, Vicki,
after the couple moved to Rochester a few years ago. “It’s important to
recognize that [farmer’s markets] are a limited component of a food system;
ultimately, it’s a pretty inefficient way to bring food into the
community,” Hartman says. The “challenge with farmer’s markets is
they never know how much they’re going to sell; it’s always hit or miss. And
the worst thing is to have harvested all of this food and then not to have sold
it at the market, and to haul it back to the farm, likely to rot and not be
used or just be composted.”
“The beautiful thing about the CSA is that all of the food is sold
ahead of time,” Hartman says. “People often talk about the CSA as
bringing the consumer and the farmer onto the same side of the fence. […]
Many of our farmers sell twice as much through the CSA than they do at any
given market.”
Good Food Collective was in the process of writing articles
of incorporation for non-for-profit status, planning for the business to run
neighborhood-based farmer’s markets, and intending to build up the system of
sustainability. But somewhere in that process, Hartman says, “we realized
what we don’t need, in my opinion, is more not-for-profits trying to support
and facilitate an economy around local food. We need new businesses and new
business models being this economy around local food.”
So Hartman shifted the enterprise to become Head Water Foods, Inc., a
“social entrepreneurial endeavor to try and build an economy around local
sustainable agriculture here in Rochester,” Hartman says. Good Food
Collective is a project of Head Water Foods and its 10 partnering farms. The
next step, he says, is “developing the necessary infrastructure that has
to go along with food system: storing, distribution, and processing that would
allow for a year-round supply chain of local sustainable food.”
GFC currently offers full summer shares only, and is putting together a
winter CSA project that would have four distributions, once a month from
December through March, and would include storage crops like root vegetables,
some fresh products that can be grown and harvested in greenhouses throughout
the year, and also frozen and preserved products grown during the summer in
this region. This year, GFC will be piloting frozen product from Winter Sun
Farms in the Hudson Valley, to see if this market digs it. If so, next year it
would invest in its own winter-processing facilities to continue to offer the
same share with locally based products.
The business is also starting to look at “wholesale relationships with
institutions, restaurants, and stores, figuring out how we can start to build
the infrastructure necessary to create an affordable, consistent, reliable
supply of good, local food year round to all of those entities,” Hartman says.
He wants to get local colleges interested in sourcing foods locally. He would
like for Head Water Foods to ultimately have a vertical model: own fertile
soil, have farmers be a cooperative part of the company, run the Good Food
Collective CSA, whole food processing and distribution, and maybe even a
restaurant, Hartman says.
On competing with the convenient lure of the supermarket, Hartman points out
the “indirect health benefits of supporting a food system that does not
contribute significantly to air pollution, soil pollution, water pollution,
soil erosion…and the unbelievable amount of garbage associated with packaging
and distribution. Many people grumble and scratch their head and are
embarrassed and disappointed at the system we’ve created as a country,”
says Hartman. “There are things you can do about that, there are
alternatives that exist, and it’s my opinion that it’s our responsibility to
seek out and support those alternatives and help them grow.”
Regional CSAs
Andy’s Specialty Garlic and Produce
2012 Parker Rd, Newark
Andy Papineau, 315-331-2737 | four_wheel_drive23@yahoo.com
Black Creek Farm
620 Morgan Rd, Scottsville
CP Knerr, 889-0986
Chicken Thistle Farm
2039 Barnes Rd, Walworth
Andy & Kelli Prior, 315-333-0009 | chickenthistlefarm.com
The Dieter Farm
3423 Plank Rd/Rt. 15A, Livonia
Phil Dieter, 582-2437 | jdieter1@rochester.rr.com
Donovan Orchards, LLC
302 Beresford Rd, Rochester
Scott Donovan, 944-8824 | donovanorchards.com
East Hill Farm
1445 Upper Hill Rd, Middlesex
Rochester Folk Art Guild, 554-3539 | easthillcsa.org
Fellenz Family Farm
1919 Lester Rd, Phelps
Andy & Jan Fellenz, 315-548-6228 | fellenfamilyfarm.com
Fiacres Garden Microfarm
364 Merchants Rd
Chris Phillips, 288-1073
Firefly Farm
5910 Smith Rd, Canandaigua
Sharon Nagle & John Caraluzzo, 394-1039, 704-6297, 704-0894 | fireflyfarm5910@hotmail.com
Fraser’s Garlic Farm
1379 Johnson Rd, Churchville
Ed Fraser, 350-8295 | frasergarlic.com
G and S Orchards and CSA
825 Atlantic Avenue (Route 286), Walworth
Gary Craft, 315-524-3823 | gandsorchards.com
GoldMar Farm
3423 Plank Rd, Livonia
Lisa Golden, 415-6248 | goldmarenterprises.webs.com
Good Food Collective
Chris Hartman | thegoodfoodcollective.com
GRUB: Greater Rochester Urban Bounty (the Vineyard)
126 Sander Street, Rochester
Administered by the North East Block Club Alliance, 544-0140
Kindred Ground Farm
2393 Pole Bridge Rd, Avon
Tammy Anderson, 703-3800
Kyle Farms All Natural Lamb
3872 Hogmire Rd, Avon
Anne Dewar, 568-7817 | kylefarmsnys.com
Maxwell Creek Farm
7004 North Rd, Sodus
Kim & Marty Molisani, 315-483-4745 | maxwellcreekfarmshare.com
Mud Creek Farm
1154 McMahon Rd, Victor
Erin Bullock, 455-1260 | mudcreekfarm.com
Peacework Organic Farm
2231 Welcher Rd, Newark
Elizabeth Henderson & Ammie Chickering, 315-398-4007 | gvocsa.org
Porter Farms
4914 Edgerton Rd, Elba
Mike Porter, 757-6823 | porterfarms.org
Phillips Organic Farm
9191 Roanoke Rd, Stafford
Donna Phillips, 343-6980 | dphil500@aol.com
Rose in Bloom Farm
1919 Honeoye Falls Rd., Honeoye Falls
Sharon Rosenblum, 624-9204 | sjporter@eznet.net
Shimmering Light Community Garden
6141 Hicks Rd, Naples
Deb Denome, 394-7610 | seekingcommonground.org
Smoke Ridge Organics
3804 County Road 40, Bloomfield
Lindsay Kuhn, 229-7424 | smokeridgeorganics.com
Windy Meadows Farm CSA
900 Kuttruff Rd, West
Walworth
Brenda & Tom Welker, 315-986-0968 | windymeadowfarms.com
Helpful web links
ecovian.com/s/rochester/csa-food-delivery
ilovethefingerlakes.com/basics/agriculture-CSAs
This article appears in Sep 8-8, 2010.
