CSA Shares Delivered to Meredith



I'd eat more fresh vegetables from my local farmer if I knew how to cook them. I'm learning, but along with my culinary shortcomings, I struggle with arriving at the farmstand before it closes.

One solution to my buying dilemma is to purchase a CSA, Community Supported Agriculture, share from Lucky Dog in Hamden. Holley Giles always gave me recipes ideas for vegetables off my radar and when all else fails "olive oil, salt and pepper" did the trick. I bought a CSA two years ago, and loved it. But with last year's economic crunch, I thought I'd save money by reducing the number of nonrecipe vegetables rotting away in my refrigerator's dark recesses. So, last year, no CSA...but the rotting continued.

I have an idea for Meredith: our community should buy local food in bulk this year through collaborative CSA shares. Until we have a farmer in Meredith who sells fresh, organic produce through a CSA, we can explore this option and have our CSA shares delivered to a central location in town and save us all the trip to Hamden each week. We'd reduce our carbon footprint, support a local farmer and nourish our bodies with good wholesome food. The location could be the East Meredith or Meridale fire hall, town hall, even the Meridale Store or Stone &Thistle's farm store.

The Lucky Dog CSA runs June through October (20-22 weeks at $485) which averages $24.25 a week for 7-10 organic vegetables. Lucky Dog also offers a flower CSA at $75 a share and an egg CSA for $100 (one dozen a week). You can take a look at Lucky Dog's 2009 CSA brochure here. We could even arrange a meat CSA through a Meredith beef/pork producer and enhance our local CSA project that covers all the major food groups.

Some people may balk at the upfront cost, but really, $475 is a bargain. You can always split the share (and the bounty) and be out of pocket a mere $12.12 a week...but you'll have saved on gas to Oneonta. If we had enough people express an interest, I'm sure we could figure out a way to arrange payment by food stamps and EBT (electronic bank transfer). If we really want to support our local farmer AND our local economy, we need to start making choices that reflect those values. A CSA is a good start.
 
Interested? I'm curious what your thoughts on a Meredith delivery of Lucky Dog CSA shares are..

Getting Involved to Move Agriculture Forward in Delaware County

After reading a couple posts at the Google Group, Delaware Action Group, consider this thought on "Getting Involved to Move Agriculture Forward in Delaware County."

It's obvious (and wonderful) that people are committed to buying more products directly from their local farmers. Purchasing half a cow or pig at a time is a boon for producers, even better if you arrange (and pay for) the sale at the beginning of the animal-raising cycle. Dedicating 20, 30 even 50% of your grocery basket food choices to local food first goes a long way to keeping family farms alive, too. Each dollar we spend with our local farmer continues to circulate through our local businesses 3-7 more times.  It's called the Multiplier Effect, and farming is by far the best way of building strong local economies.

But individuals can only do so much.

What we need are pro-agriculture people in key policy-making positions. For starters, we need "Voices for Agriculture" involved with local government and regional agencies that are making decisions about food purchasing, business development and public policy.

Take a look at this list below. If you support the concepts of

• local food,
• vibrant communities,
• strong regional economies,
• common-sense food safety and
• social justice issues relating to access to clean water and fresh food,

then become involved in one of these public arenas below. Volunteer to spearhead a food-based initiative, become a board member, engage these groups through education or vote in people willing to represent clean water and fresh food interests. Give agriculture the voice it deserves and the legs to accomplish what needs to be done.

Getting Involved to Move Agriculture Forward in Delaware County starts with:

• Your
• town council
• town planning board
• school board
• Delaware County
• Board of Supervisors
• Farmland Protection
• Industrial Development Association
• Economic Development
• Planning Department
• Nonprofit agencies and agricultural advocates like
• Watershed Agricultural Council
• Farm Catskills
• Center for Agricultural Development and Entrepreneurship
• New York Farm Bureau-Delaware County chapter
• Northeast Organic Farming Association of New York

As we move forward with creating a Farmland Protection Plan for the Town of Meredith, I hope you will bring your thoughts and ideas forward and help apply them to our community. We might not be able to change the world, but we can certainly make a difference right here in Meredith by giving Agriculture the attention, the respect and the voice it deserves.

Annual Farmers Luncheon Features On-Farm Energy Speaker 1/15/11

The Hobart Rotary Club is holding its Annual Farmers' Luncheon on Saturday, January 15, 2011 from noon to 2 p.m. at the Community Hall, Cornell Avenue in Hobart. the luncheon will feature a special presentation, "COST EFECTIVE RENEWABLE ENERGY OPTIONS FOR LOCAL FARMS" with Dick Riseling and Sonja Hedlund of Apple Pond Farm in Calicoon. The couple have combined energy technologies and found the way to make their farm run eessentially independent of outside energy sources. NYSERDA incentives made the energy improvements possible with payback periods of 10 years or less for installed technologies. Dick and Sonja will talk about the trends and opportunities in renewable energy and how you can apply them on your farm.

Please RSVP by January 10th to reserve your seat call John Adams at 607-538-9983 or email jobe60@directv.net.