Tuesday, March 23, 2010

Local food subscription services grow in popularity

By MARY PEPITONE
Special to The Star

Community Supported Agriculture started more than a decade ago as a grassroots movement to eat locally. Today the movement continues to grow to serve consumers across the metro area.Also known by its acronym, a CSA is a subscription service. Consumers invest in local farms by purchasing “shares” before the growing season begins. In return for their investment CSA subscribers receive a weekly delivery of freshly harvested, often organically grown and produced food, including fruits, vegetables, meats, cheese, eggs and/or honey.

“A CSA can really knit a community together. People who participate in a CSA have a relationship with the farmer and their food,” says Season Burnett, director of the Kansas City CSA Coalition. “Not only is it good for the farmer and the consumer, CSAs also benefit the local economy and environment, since money spent on locally grown food stays closer to home.”

CSAs feed the locavore movement — people who strive to eat food grown within 100 miles of their dinner table — but they’re also fostering a common-sense approach to eating. Local produce, harvested at its peak and consumed within 24 hours of being picked, is more nutrient-dense. And most consumers say fresher food just tastes better.

People appear to be hungry for the opportunity to personally know the farmer who grows what they eat, says Craig Volland, a long-time Kansas City Food Circle member and event coordinator for the Eat Local farmers exhibition, which will be the next two weekends. (On the cover.)

When the expo was organized 11 years ago, only a dozen farmers participated. Now that number has grown to 50. Last year 1,600 local consumers attended the expo to learn more about CSAs.

“Participating in a CSA is like hiring your very own farmer or group of farmers,” Volland says. “Accordingly, one needs to ask lots of questions before making a decision about a certain CSA.” (See Know Your Farmer box at right.)

Prices vary from farmer to farmer. Some ask for a membership fee and weekly dues. Others ask for money up front for operating expenses or to buy seeds. Some CSAs even require sweat equity in the form of pulling weeds and helping with harvesting.

No matter what the cost, advocates say one of the greatest benefits is cultivating a unique relationship with fresh food and the people who help grow it.

Many CSAs are run by small farmers who focus on produce. But Diana Endicott, the farm-to-market coordinator for the Good Natured Family Farm Alliance based in Bronson, Kan., is bringing the CSA concept to local grocery stores.

Endicott, who represents more than 150 family farms, has forged a partnership with 12 area Hen House Markets to distribute weekly bags of seasonal produce. As part of the Buy Fresh, Buy Local initiative ( www.foodroutes.org), the CSA fed 1,500 people last year.

“We look at it like agriculture-supported community, in which we provide an added service to local grocery stores,” Endicott says. “This system of distribution works well. As farmers, we continue to do what we do best, which is producing high-quality products. Grocery stores continue to do what they do best, which is serve the customers.”

Although consumers may not get to know their farmer as intimately through a CSA grocery store set-up, easy access for weekly distribution makes this an appealing model to many. It also reminds participants that membership in a CSA is a partnership with farmers — during bumper crops or in times of bust because of unfavorable growing conditions.

The face of family farms is changing, too. Burnett, of Kansas City CSA Coalition, says CSAs have grown to include urban farmers, such as Greeley Gardens near Quindaro Boulevard in Kansas City, Kan., with produce grown on vacant lots.

“Not only are CSAs a method of distributing healthy food that sustain us as humans,” Burnett says, “but it also helps sustain and provides stability for the local family farmer. Everyone can reap the rewards.”

Thursday, March 18, 2010



Kansas City Food Circle’s 12th Annual Exhibition of Farmers


2010 EAT LOCAL! Expos
2 Saturdays

March 27 & April 3


BUY DIRECT from LOCAL FAMILY FARMERS

High-quality, organic veggies on-site & by CSA subscription

Free-range meat and eggs

Organic veggie seedlings and plants for your spring garden

Free Kansas City Food Circle Directory of Local Producers

Original music by Eco-Troubadour Stan Slaughter

Saturday, March 27, 2010
9 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Shawnee Civic Center
13817 Johnson Dr., Shawnee, Kansas (2 miles east of I-435)



Saturday, April 3, 2010
9:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.
Roger T. Sermon Community Center, Truman & Noland Rd., Independence, Missouri
(1 ½ miles west of US 291)

FREE PUBLIC ADMISSION – FREE PARKING

FREE local food workshops at both sites, featuring: “How to Buy Local – CSA’s and Organic Farmers Markets” (see details below)

For more info, call KC Food Circle @ 913-334-0556 or 913-620-8427.

###

Free How-To Workshops
At the Shawnee Expo – March 27
Buy It, Eat It!

Learn how to get local, organic and free-range food direct from family farms using CSAs, farmers markets, buying clubs and co-ops.

9:30-10:30 a.m.

~~

Can It, Freeze It!

K-State’s County Extension Agent Nichole Burnett shows you how to enjoy the fresh, delicious taste of local and organic year-round through canning and freezing. Feel free to bring in the pressure gauge on your dial pressure canner. They will be tested for free for one hour following the workshop.

11-noon

~~

Dish It Up!

The blue bird bistro, one of the first local, organic restaurants in Kansas City, shows you how to prepare local, free-range meat.

12:30-1:30 p.m.

~~

At the Independence Expo- April 3
Buy It, Eat It!

Learn how to get local, organic and free-range food direct from family farms using CSAs, farmers markets, buying clubs and co-ops.

9:30-10:30 a.m.

~~

Can It, Freeze It!

University of Missouri’s Nutrition & Health Education Specialist Karen Elliot shows you how to preserve local, seasonal produce so you can enjoy its health benefits and great taste all year. Feel free to bring in the pressure gauge on your dial pressure canner. They will be tested for free for one hour following the workshop.

10:45 a.m. to 11:45 a.m.

~~

Dish It Up!

Justus Drugstore Chef and Owner Jonathan Justus shares his passion and tips for local, seasonal cuisine.

noon - 1 p.m.

~~

SPONSORS:

Sierra Club
Food Circles Networking Project – Missouri Extension
Local Foods Project – K-State Extension
Greens KC
Whole Foods – Local Vendor Program
Society of the Precious Blood
Fresh Food Express
Fresh Connect KC
Green Sanctuary at All Souls UU Church (KCMO)

Monday, March 15, 2010

What is a CSA?


Community Supported Agriculture

Thinking about signing up for a CSA but want to learn more about the idea before you commit? Read on.

Over the last 20 years, Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) has become a popular way for consumers to buy local, seasonal food directly from a farmer. Here are the basics: a farmer offers a certain number of "shares" to the public. Typically the share consists of a box of vegetables, but other farm products may be included. Interested consumers purchase a share (aka a "membership" or a "subscription") and in return receive a box (bag, basket) of seasonal produce each week throughout the farming season.

This arrangement creates several rewards for both the farmer and the consumer. In brief...

Advantages for farmers:

  • Get to spend time marketing the food early in the year, before their 16 hour days in the field begin
  • Receive payment early in the season, which helps with the farm's cash flow
  • Have an opportunity to get to know the people who eat the food they grow

Advantages for consumers:

  • Eat ultra-fresh food, with all the flavor and vitamin benefits
  • Get exposed to new vegetables and new ways of cooking
  • Usually get to visit the farm at least once a season
  • Find that kids typically favor food from "their" farm – even veggies they've never been known to eat
  • Develop a relationship with the farmer who grows their food and learn more about how food is grown

It's a simple enough idea, but its impact has been profound. Tens of thousands of families have joined CSAs, and in some areas of the country there is more demand than there are CSA farms to fill it. The government does not track CSAs, so there is no official count of how many CSAs there are in the U.S.. LocalHarvest has the most comprehensive directory of CSA farms, with over 2,500 listed in our grassroots database. In 2008, 557 CSAs signed up with LocalHarvest, and in the first two months of 2009, an additional 300 CSAs joined the site.

Variations
As you might expect with such a successful model, farmers have begun to introduce variations. One increasingly common one is the "mix and match," or "market-style" CSA. Here, rather than making up a standard box of vegetables for every member each week, the members load their own boxes with some degree of personal choice. The farmer lays out baskets of the week's vegetables. Some farmers encourage members to take a prescribed amount of what's available, leaving behind just what their families do not care for. Some CSA farmers then donate this extra produce to a food bank. In other CSAs, the members have wider choice to fill their box with whatever appeals to them, within certain limitations. (e.g. "Just one basket of strawberries per family, please.")

CSAs aren't confined to produce. Some farmers include the option for shareholders to buy shares of eggs, homemade bread, meat, cheese, fruit, flowers or other farm products along with their veggies. Sometimes several farmers will offer their products together, to offer the widest variety to their members. For example, a produce farmer might create a partnership with a neighbor to deliver chickens to the CSA drop off point, so that the CSA members can purchase farm-fresh chickens when they come to get their CSA baskets. Other farmers are creating standalone CSAs for meat, flowers, eggs, and preserved farm products. In some parts of the country, non-farming third parties are setting up CSA-like businesses, where they act as middle men and sell boxes of local (and sometimes non-local) food for their members.

Shared Risk
There is an important concept woven into the CSA model that takes the arrangement beyond the usual commercial transaction. That is the notion of shared risk. When originally conceived, the CSA was set up differently than it is now. A group of people pooled their money, bought a farm, hired a farmer, and each took a share of whatever the farm produced for the year. If the farm had a tomato bonanza, everyone put some up for winter. If a plague of locusts ate all the greens, people ate cheese sandwiches. Very few such CSAs exist today, and for most farmers, the CSA is just one of the ways their produce is marketed. They may also go to the farmers market, do some wholesale, sell to restaurants, etc. Still, the idea that "we're in this together" remains. On some farms it is stronger than others, and CSA members may be asked to sign a policy form indicating that they agree to accept without complaint whatever the farm can produce.

Many times, the idea of shared risk is part of what creates a sense of community among members, and between members and the farmers. If a hailstorm takes out all the peppers, everyone is disappointed together, and together cheer on the winter squash and broccoli. Most CSA farmers feel a great sense of responsibility to their members, and when certain crops are scarce, they make sure the CSA gets served first. Still, it is worth noting that very occasionally things go wrong on a farm – like they do in any kind of business – and the expected is not delivered, and members feel shortchanged. At LocalHarvest we are in touch with CSA farmers and members from all over the country. Every year we hear get complaints about a few CSA farms (two to six farms a year, over the last nine years) where something happened and the produce was simply unacceptable. It might have been a catastrophic divorce, or an unexpected death in the family. Or the weather was abominable, or the farmer was inexperienced and got in over his/her head.

In our experience, if the situation seems regrettable but reasonable – a bad thing that in good faith could have happened to anyone – most CSA members will rally, if they already know and trust the farmer. These people are more likely to take the long view, especially if they have received an abundance of produce in the past. They are naturally more likely to think, "It'll be better next year," than are new members who have nothing to which to compare a dismal experience. The take-home message is this: if the potential for "not getting your money's worth" makes you feel anxious, then shared risk may not be for you and you should shop at the farmers market.

Sometimes we hear complaints from CSA members in situations where it appears to us that nothing really went wrong, but the member had unreasonable expectations. In the hope of minimizing disappointment and maximizing satisfaction, we've prepared the following tips and questions.

http://www.localharvest.org/

Thursday, March 11, 2010

Thank You For Supporting My Recent SOS.


McCain Abandons Dietary Supplement Regulation Bill
Wednesday, March 10, 2010 8:16 AM
By Sylvia Booth Hubbard

Arizona Sen. John McCain has abandoned his own bill that would have increased federal regulations on dietary supplements.

Sen. Orin Hatch, R-Utah, who has long been a champion of supplements, urged his fellow senator to withdraw his support from bill S. 3002 that would have required all manufacturers of dietary supplements to register with the Food and Drug Administration and provide a list of their products and ingredients. In addition, the bill would have made it much easier for the FDA to recall dietary supplements. Experts believed it would also drastically limit their availability to consumers.

McCain introduced the Dietary Supplement Safety Act of 2010 with
Democratic Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D. only one month ago. The bill was in response to concerns that dietary products contain hidden, harmful ingredients, especially steroids. Anti-doping officials promoted it as an effort to protect consumers.

"All Americans should know the exact ingredients of any dietary
supplement they use, and the FDA must have the tools necessary to ensure the safety of dietary supplements," McCain said on the Senate floor, according to The Salt Lake Tribune.

Hatch, who helped create the current rules on supplements, believes new rules aren't necessary. He is working on a bill that would help the FDA enforce the 1994 supplement law that already exists.

McCain faced criticism from tens of thousands of supplement users as well as from Hatch who believed the bill would harm one of Utah's largest industries.

On his Web site, McCain posted a letter from Hatch thanking him for his reversal. "I am pleased that you understand my serious concerns with your bill," Hatch wrote. "Also, I want to thank you for agreeing to withdraw your support for the provisions of S. 3002 that I believe would do great harm to the dietary supplement industry and work with me on solutions that will truly help dietary supplement consumers without injuring this important industry."

A spokeswoman with the Anti-Doping Agency said: "We are confident any legislation ultimately supported by Senator McCain would go a long way in providing better protection from the potentially dangerous dietary supplements that all consumers, including our athletes, are concerned about."

Shares of nutritional supplement makers climbed on Wall Street after McCain's announcement became known. "It looks like it will be an easier world to be in the dietary supplement business," Avondale analyst Bret Jordan told The Wall Street Journal. "The bill would have significantly tightened regulatory requirements."

C 2010 Newsmax. All rights reserved.

Thursday, March 4, 2010

New Bill Introduced for Mo Farmers' Markets

Thought I would share the news....(since a friend of mine shared this recently)

If you haven't heard Senator Clemons has introduced Missouri SB 1015 , which creates a state permit that supersedes local permits for certain vendors at farmer's markets.

To some this bill might upset, but no matter what side you stand for...your Senator should hear about it. In my previous job, I learned that many of our politicians don't always understand fully the repercussions of the bills they pass. Not because they do not care...but because they can't be an expert on every issue. That's when it takes the people to contact their Senators and Representatives and inform them about the issues. Here's your opportunity.

The bill states: The act creates a state permit for individuals who sell items at farmer's markets in more than one local jurisdiction. The state permit is not required, but may be used to take the place of locally-required permits in those areas. The Department of Health and Senior Services must administer the permits and must have an on-line application process. The department may charge a processing fee not to exceed $25 per application. Permits are valid for 3 years and may be renewed. The permit does not exempt the holder from complying with any other applicable food safety laws. If passed, this bill will not go into effect until August 28, 2010.

Tuesday, March 2, 2010



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