What is a CSA?
In the winter and early spring, members buy a share of the harvest--the farmers then use this money for seeds, greenhouse expenses, equipment, labor, etc. In return, members receive a weekly distribution of the farm’s products - members’ investment is
CSAs support sustainable and responsible land management, a shrinking carbon footprint, and communities that can nourish themselves. A community is formed by the members of a CSA and the farmers who produce their food. A CSA gives the farmers a sure market and a gauge to produce by, minimizing losses and ensuring the success of the farm.
The basic CSA model has many different practical variations depending on the preferences of each farm and community. Some CSAs serve about 20 households, while some serve over 1000. Some CSAs require that members come to the farm in order to pick up their produce; some offer delivery options. On some CSA farms, the farmers choose what produce will be included in the weekly share, while others allow members to choose their own assortment each week, depending on what is
The Full Plate Farm Collective CSA offers about 450 shares to households in the Ithaca area. Members can decide when they join whether they would like to pick up their weekly share at one of the farms or have it delivered. Full Plate members who pick up at one of the farms can choose what they’d like to take home (according to what’s in season and what’s available that week), and members who opt for delivery receive a farmer-picked assortment of that week’s harvest.
Nearly all CSAs are organic farms. Our three farms are all organic and two are also biodynamic. You can read more about organic and biodynamic farming below.
What is organic farming?
Organic farmers are always looking ahead, asking what the effects of their actions are going to be on the future. They know that we must grow food for ourselves to survive, and that without healthy soil nothing survives. There is no sacrificing the means for the ends in farming, or in life on Earth. We cannot pollute and over work the land for a super crop now and live healthily ever after. Some of the methods organic farmers use are crop rotation, compost and other natural fertilizers, companion planting, and cover cropping to create and maintain nutrient rich soil.
You might see hole or two on your collard leaf where a cabbage worm passed through, or get a squash with a deer nibble taken out of it now and again, but you’ll know you are safe from toxins and carcinogens, that your vegetables are packed with all the nutrients healthy soil has to offer, and that the person growing your food is paying attention to whether anyone is going to be able to grow food there in 25 or 50 years. Overall we find that our CSA members are continually amazed by the vibrant quality and flavor in our vegetables - they’re gorgeous to look at and taste amazing!
A Note on Heirloom varieties:
One way that organic farmers have found to work with the Earth is to preserve the natural diversity of plants by preserving and growing heirloom varieties. In the past century the number of varieties of vegetables produced has diminished. It is common knowledge that biological diversity is the key to sustained life but conventional farming ignores that.
This goes back to that issue of easy packing and handling on a massive scale. It has gotten so bad that we think tomatoes look like one certain round, squat, evenly red variety pictured on the sides of trucks, boxes and sauce cans every where. In fact, there are more varieties of tomato than you can count on fingers and toes (as a start). There are golden yellow pear shaped tomatoes, small round striped tomatoes, deep dark purple tomatoes,
You have an exciting year of taste testing a wide variety of greens, tomatoes, cucumbers, squash and more ahead of you!
What is biodynamic farming?
Biodynamic farming began as “biological-dynamic” farming in Europe in the 1920s. It was spurred by a group of farmers who perceived a widespread and marked decline in animal health and soil fertility, beginning with the advent of man-made fertilizers. They sought the advice of Rudolf Steiner (1861-1925), the prolific thinker, lecturer and writer who also developed Waldorf Education, Anthroposophy, anthroposophic medicine, and various art, architecture and movement forms, among other disciplines. Steiner gave a series of lectures, collectively know as the “Agriculture Course,” which laid the foundation of biodynamic farming and the modern organic farming movement.
To develop a farm in the image of a self-contained individuality, all the forms of life - animal, vegetable, mineral, fungal - are needed to be present to create a whole. The presence of both animals and crops is an essential feature
There is much more to the biodynamic practice than be explained here, and as each farm is an individual organism, they must be learned individually. Be assured that the produce you eat from our farms will be of the highest quality and you can trust that the land and all that live on it are being respectfully cared for. We look forward to seeing you on the farms, and hope you will join us when we invite you to participate in farm activities.
For more information on biodynamic agriculture visit:
www.biodynamics.com
www.jpibiodynamics.org