Downtown CSA
THE DOWNTOWN CSA
The Jewish Community Project, the Tribeca neighborhood and surrounding communities have a unique opportunity to partner in a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) program with Katchkie Farm, an organic farm located in Kinderhook, Columbia County, NY.
A CSA program is a great way for people to support local farms, while buying organic vegetables and delicious fruit. Each shareholder pays a subscription fee to buy a share of the harvest. The fee goes toward the operating costs of the farm. In return, the farm supplies each subscriber with a weekly box of produce.
Why join?
- To eat fresh, flavorful vegetables
- To eat the healthiest produce available
- To support local farms
- It is affordable
- It is good for the environment
- It is good for your community
What’s in a Share?
Each share provides enough to feed two adults and two children (10-17 lbs of organic vegetables per week). The organic produce you receive will vary each week depending on what is available throughout the season and will include anywhere from seven to twelve different vegetables, for example one week might include: salad greens, kale, summer squash, eggplant, tomatoes, green beans, and carrots.
In addition to the weekly vegetable share, members can also opt to purchase an additional fruit share from orchards in Columbia County (note: orchards for fruit are low-spray, but not organic). Each fruit share includes 2-4 lbs of fruit each week. Again, the fruit delivered each week will depend on availability and range from berries and plums to peaches and apples.
- A vegetable share is $550 ($25 per week for 10-17 lbs of organic vegetables)
- An optional fruit share is an additional $150 ($7 per week for 2-4 lbs of fruit)
- The CSA program runs for 21 weeks, from June 9th through October 20th
- You can also opt to donate a share to a local family in need (The CSA will be working to arrange delivery to those in need).
What does it require?
Subscribers are responsible to:
- Pay for a full season. The farm can’t accommodate month to month subscriptions. If you’re away and can’t pick up your share, you are free to arrange to have someone else pick up your share or gift your unused weeks. Each week, the CSA will arrange to have any remaining vegetables and fruit donated to the NYC Rescue Mission on White Street.
- Pick up their weekly share. The farm delivers the produce to the JCP downtown in the early afternoon, so that subscribers can pick up their harvest share each Tuesday, between 4 pm and 7 pm.
- Volunteer for TWO 2 hour shift/season at the distribution site – scheduled at your convenience. Children are welcome to join their parents during volunteer time. The core CSA team will be contacting you sign up to schedule these times with you.
How does it work?
Every Tuesday between 4pm – 7pm, crates of vegetables will be set up in the JCP café. Each share subscriber gets to select and pack their own bag/box according to the ‘what’s in this week’s share’ list the farm provides (i.e. this week each share gets 2lbs of carrots, 2 eggplant, 4 beets, etc.). BRING YOUR OWN BAGS!
What if I hate kale or I’m allergic to beets? No worries, we’ll have a swap bin for those of you who would rather have more of one item than another.
It’s entirely a volunteer effort. While the JCP is providing the space, all the work for the CSA program has to be done by volunteers from registration to distribution. If we can get enough help, we also hope to offer nutrition seminars (what exactly does it mean if something is labeled organic?), recipes, and perhaps cooking demonstrations.
Volunteer: If you do not want to be a part of the Downtown CSA but would like to offer your time to volunteer at distribution please click here.
