Have you heard of Community Supported Agriculture?

Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) connects families to farm fresh and increases local food accessibility. Today’s CSA model consists of a weekly box of fresh farm produce delivered to your home or picked up from your local farm. The box contains fruits and vegetables that are in season on the farm which is the eating-in-season lifestyle. Eating in season provides your body with all the nutrients, vitamins, and minerals it needs at that period, as mother nature intended. Eating seasonally not only creates healthy meals, but it also helps keep the environment healthy by reducing the need for transporting goods from farther away places and climates. We on the farm have always believed in the practice of eating in season for its numerous benefits including; a healthier lifestyle, and reducing your carbon footprint, and because we’re farmers and live close to, and are in touch with the land.

 

In Harmony with the Seasons

Eating whole foods in harmony with the seasons is better for you. Processed foods are less economical as you are paying for fillers and packaging, whereas fresh field fruits and vegetables are all-natural they provide more value for the dollar.  Eating in season allows you to enjoy the freshest produce picked at the peak of ripeness which makes them more flavorful and nutritious. Following the natural harmony of the seasons means that you are getting local foods that do not have to be picked unripe and transported and provide your body with the vitamins and minerals it needs in that period. 

 

Customizable Box Contents

Our farm has evolved to adapt to an ever more discerning consumer including fruit in addition to vegetables, creating an extended season, along with options to customize box contents. Alstede Farms is proud to offer the most diversity of any CSA box which includes 250 varieties of fruits and vegetables in season. Along with variety, Alstede Farms CSA offers the longest CSA share with the use of high tunnel growing to extend the growing and harvest seasons. Technology is a large part of creating individualized CSA shares by allowing members to swap out preferences and truly customize their share weekly. Alstede Farms encourages members to try everything first using the weekly recipes and cooking tips that are provided weekly. The recipes are a great tool to help reduce food waste and explore new fruits or vegetables on your dinner table. 

 

Leading with Heart

Trish Cirelli is our CSA manager and thrives on all the moving pieces of managing a CSA program including the multitude of logistics. She is the heartbeat ensuring that all of our CSA members receive what they customize in their weekly produce box when they want it. She coordinates all of the details with our farm production team and our retail market to ensure everything comes together at the proper time for packing and delivery. She is also the creative inspiration for researching new and exciting ideas for our shares, like our new mushroom add-on amongst others. She has developed numerous innovative add-on subscriptions making CSA shares even more gourmet including these great ones; an apple cider subscription, a cheese of the week subscription, and a pickle of the week subscription. We thank Trish for all of her hard work every day!

Alstede Farms has been proud to connect families with local foods and nourish families for over forty years. You can now enroll in a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) membership to conveniently receive a weekly box of farm fresh produce beginning this April at several locations, including Alstede Farms’ newest location, Alstede Fresh at Lindeken Farms, in Jefferson. You can learn more about achieving a healthy lifestyle by enrolling in a CSA today by clicking here.