Thanks to Nivia from Our Lady of Sorrows food pantry and Heather from Woodbridge Farm for joining us last night at Abrons Arts Center — and thanks to the many new CSA members who showed up and shared some Woodbridge cheese. And of course thanks to Rose Ortiz from Abrons who has been such a good host to the CSA for two years now and running.
I hope Heather was able to speak to some of the finer details of running a small organic/biodynamic farm, as well as the economic role CSAs play in keeping such farms running.
And Nivia addressed the other end of the CSA, where our food goes when members don’t show up. Her food pantry is a great help to the less fortunate in our neighborhood, and the vegetables we contribute are some of the only fresh foods her pantry has access to.
All of which I hope drives home the point that belonging to the CSA is not the same as buying vegetables at the store or farmers’ market once a week. There is a broader community we are attempting to build with your cooperation.
As of this morning we have closed our 2011 registration, having reached the share limit allotted by Woodbridge. With more people picking up half shares this year, and a few people joining only for the fruit, we have our largest CSA yet, 120 families strong.