Fresh and Fabulous

Last summer, Sara and I obtained the flowers for our wedding (which were gorgeous!) from a lovely farm in Cedar Grove, NC called Maple Spring Gardens. This farm operates on the relatively new socio-economic model of food production, sales, and distribution called Community Supported Agriculture (CSA). This model aims at both increasing the quality of food and the quality of care given the land, plants and animals – while substantially reducing potential food losses and financial risks for the producers. In short, it allows a farm to insure a market for its product, and to deliver high-quality food to locals who commit to support the farm. Typically, individuals purchase a subscription or "share" of the farm's harvest, and receive a weekly dispersal of the produce throughout the growing season. As such, part of the farm's operating budget (or in some cases, the entire budget) is funded in advance by the "share-holders," and the farm is able to focus more on quality and reduce the risk of food waste or financial loss. Maple Spring Gardens, which engages in organic farming practices, operates both as a CSA and also as a vendor at local farmer's markets.


For Christmas, I bought Sara a share cut-flowers for this year, and we have just purchased a small share of vegetables and berries for 2008. So for several months in the spring/summer/fall of 2008 we will be receiving a small bunch of fresh flowers and a box of wonderfully fresh vegetables! We are really excited about this, as it will dovetail with our goal of eating healthier. (The farm also supplies a newsletter that includes recipes for the produce included.) If you are interested in eating healthy and supporting local farmers, we encourage you to look for a CSA in your own community. There are a number of listings of CSA's on the web, but I found this one returned the most locations. Try it out!