Joining a C.S.A. is a great way to support local agriculture and contribute to local job creation. By joining a C.S.A consumers know their food is produced locally and it is fresh. If you are interested in joining our C.S.A. please contact us.
Keeping it local. Produce may be shipped in from all over the world. It may come from other areas of the world on ships and ride long miles across the country on trucks. Shipping produce long distances does not happen within hours. It may take from days to even a weeks. Much of the nutritional value of fruits and vegetables may be lost within the first couple days of being harvested. Shipping produce long distances consumes a lot of energy in the form of fossil fuels. Regardless of how you feel about global warming, it takes fossil fuels to ship just about anything. Fossil fuels are a finite resource and if it is possible to reduce fossil fuel consumption through buying food locally it is worth it to explore that option.
Some foods cannot be produced locally due to climate conditions. Supermarkets are more likely to contract with super-farms in areas of the world where the climate is constant enough to produce the same produce year around. The larger contracted farms specialize in mono-culture. When one crop is produced in large scale in a set space (mono-culture) disease and pests can thrive. When a large mono-culture operation experiences such problems the only cost effective option to combat such pests is heavy herbicide and pesticide. Smaller farms that do not specialize in large mono-cultures have more options to combat disease, pests, and weeds. During the winter it is difficult for a farmer in a temperate climate to grow produce. 4-5 months out of the year a local farmer can grow produce that rivals and exceeds produce from Florida, Southern Callifornia and even Mexico. When the produce is grown locally the shipping is cut out and the quality is superior.
