From milstein@pipeline.comWed Nov 22 23:53:10 1995 Date: Wed, 22 Nov 1995 11:48:42 -0500 From: Sarah Milstein To: sanet-mg@amani.ces.ncsu.edu Subject: Re: Community supported agriculture Hi, Virginia. I was glad to see your post because there's not a lot of practical exchange on CSA in this group, and that's my main area of interest. I'm on the core group of Roxbury Biodynamic Farm, a farm about three hours north of NYC that delivers to Manhattan and Albany, and has on-site shares as well. With weekly deliveries of over 450 shares, and a budget supported almost entirely by these shares, Roxbury is one of the largest and most successful CSA's around. We are not, however, without problems, and member participation is one of our greatest challenges: how do we get people involved so they are doing more than simply subscribing to beautiful (and cheap!) veggies? For the 1996 season, we are going to try to address this issue by requiring that members work a minimum of three hours at their distribution site or at the farm (their choice) during the delivery season. This will be part of the membership agreement that they sign, and a volunteer coordinator will keep track of what everyone has done. Members who do not keep this part of their agreement may be ineligible for reenrollment next year (we have the luxury of denying people reenrollment because we have a waiting list the size of Webster's Third Unabridged Dictionary). In New York City, where the farm delivers more than 220 shares, we'll have over 660 hours of work time to allot to our needs. As the site-coordinator, I have determined that at most, I'll need 330 hours of volunteering from the membership over the course of our 33 delivery days (volunteering at the site = unloading the truck, checking people in, consolidating the crates, cleaning up, etc). That will leave us with 330 hours of time for the farm, and the farmer will predetermine which jobs can best make use of the volunteers' skills (weeding carrots and harvesting strawberries are high on the list). Other farms have other arrangements, and one farm I know of that delivers to Rochester, NY requires that its members put in 16 hours of labor at the farm each year (the farm is about 50 miles outside Rochester). In NYC, we also hold two potlucks a year, with a meeting beforehand to involve the community in a discussion of the farm: how was the share price determined? are there any changes for next year? etc. In Albany, and among the group that gets their veggies at the farm, there are monthly potlucks to encourage a sense of community, but no specific meetings are scheduled. Part of the success of Roxbury is undoubtedly attributable to a strong core group that helps keep the farmer (who is an excellent grower) from burning out. But the members need to support the core group and keep *us* from burning out, so we're looking for ways to help them do that. On a related note, I am in the process of organizing farm visits for core group members from a few farms in the Catskill/Berkshire area so that we can get together and exchange ideas, see each other's farms, etc. I'm hoping to have three or four farm tours and gatherings scheduled for the 1996 season, and perhaps your farm and/or core group could be included. Which farm do you work with, and where are you located? Finally, are you aware of the CSA conference in January held in Kimberton, PA and sponsored by the Biodynamic Farming and Gardening Association? It's a three-day conference and might be a good resource for you. I don't have the B-D Association number on hand, but I'll find it and e-mail it your way over the weekend. I hope this info is helpful. Please feel free to contact me via e-mail, snail mail or voice mail anytime. Sarah Milstein 227 W. 20th St, #4C New York, NY 10011 212/645.9191 milstein@pipeline.com