Support a Local Farmer and Enjoy Organic Produce

A CSA (community supported agriculture) is basically a group of people who get together ahead of the growing season and agree to support a local farmer (in our case it is two farms, Adamah and Chubby Bunny). The Hazon CSA committee of the five synagogues of White Plains is accepting applications to join our group for the upcoming season. You do not have to live in White Plains or be a member of one of the synagogues to join the CSA. Each shareholder (individual or family) commits in advance to purchase organic produce from a local farm for the season, which is delivered once a week to a central location in White Plains. The members’ advance commitment and upfront payment help support the farmer’s season start up costs. Each shareholder also has a small volunteer responsibility to the CSA. The deliveries run from June through November. The shareholder, aside from partaking in such wonderful, healthy food, agrees to share the farmer’s risk that certain crops may be damaged in the rare event of a flood, drought, blight, etc., which may impact the harvest.

There are many advantages to joining our CSA, which include:

• Learning about and trying new vegetables, and receiving a variety of fresh, local, organic vegetables at competitive prices
• Supporting local sustainable agriculture – helping family farms to survive
• Gaining a closer relationship to where your food comes from
• Supporting a healthy environment – lowering your carbon footprint
• Building a strong community
• Receiving weekly newsletters with recipes, tips, news from the farm, and information about food issues
• Enjoying farm trips, educational programs, and community events around food and agriculture
• Linking into a national network of people who care about food and sustainability

Additional information about the CSA and applications for the 2010 season are available on our web site, http://www.tuvwhiteplains.org. The early bird discount price for the 2010 season is $580 for 22 weeks of produce, which includes a $5 administrative fee. This discounted price is only good through March 31st. After that date, the price goes up to $605, including the $5 administrative fee. The opportunity to purchase shares is open to the general public through June 1st, or until all available shares have been sold. Completed applications, accompanied by checks in the full amount of the share made payable to Chubby Bunny Farm, should be delivered to Temple Israel Center’s main office – to the attention of the CSA. For additional information, please contact Daryl Moss at [email protected].