in Montreal
With its roots in Europe, community supported agriculture (CSA) rapidly expanded to North America in the 1980s. CSA encourages local farms to use sustainable agricultural practices and encourages the community to get involved in local farms. It does this by creating a direct link between the local farmer and the consumer or community. The consumer benefits by having direct access to fresh, local produce at an affordable price, and the farmer is guaranteed buyers willing to pay a fair price for his crop.
So how does community supported agriculture work? The consumer chooses a local farm and agrees to buy a certain amount of the farm's harvest. The consumer then partly pays the farmer in advance for the produce, which is delivered weekly to his home or a local drop-off spot. The produce that is delivered will vary each week, according to the farmer's harvest, and will also vary from farm to farm. The consumer is now a partner in the farm's operation and is often invited and encouraged to spend time on the farm, either by helping out, particpating in harvest festivals, or just dropping by to say "hi" and see how the farm operates.
In the Montreal area, CSA is extremely well organised: Finding a farm to participate in is relatively easy. Equiterre, a non-profit organisation promoting ecological and socially-just initiatives, acts as a coordinator for a network of over 50 organic farms. Every year, Equiterre make available a list of farms actively seeking partners to anybody who is interested in participating. The list includes a description of the produce produced by each farm (types of fruits and vegetables, eggs, dairy, meat etc...), dates for upcoming information meetings for each farm, as well as anticipated drop-off spots. All the consumer has to do is match their alimentary needs with a convenient drop-off and make contact with the appropriate farm.
Equiterre estimates that by buying directly from the farm, participants are not only supporting small, local, family farms but that they are also paying 10% to 50% less for their organic produce than they would have at the supermarket, and supporting sutainable agricultural practices. Not to mention the fact that you know exactly where your food is coming from! Farms in the Equiterre network are all certified organic, or they are in the process of obtaining their certification. This means that none of the farms use pesticides or synthetic fertilisers, and that they use sustainable farming methods.
A list of farms is available from the Equiterre internet site, under Community Supported Agriculture. It is also available by mail. You do not need to be a memder of Equiterre to participate in this program. Most farm meetings take place in April, and harvest baskets are generally delivered for about 20 weeks from June to October. The cost per basket varies from about $10/week for a simple single-person basket, to $38/week for a gourmet basket suitable for a family.
For more information contact:
Equiterre,
2177 rue Masson, suite 317,
Montreal, Qc, H2H 1B1
514-522-2000; 1-877-ASC-6656
e-mail
info@equiterre.qc.ca
www.equiterre.qc.ca
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