Community Supported Agriculture at Temple Isaiah
What is Community Supported Agriculture (CSA)?
What is the Temple Isaiah/Gan Ilan/CCJDS CSA Project?
What Choices Do I Have As a CSA Member?
How do I sign up?
What is Community Supported Agriculture (CSA)?
In a CSA project, individuals or families commit in advance to buy produce from a local farm for a whole season. Taking this step builds a strong relationship between food buyers and their local farmers, and provides substantial economic, social and environmental benefits for all involved.
What is the Temple Isaiah/Gan Ilan/CCJDS CSA Project?
On June 1, three certified organic farms – Free Wheelin’ Farm of Santa Cruz, Shooting Star CSA of Fairfield and Terra Bella Farms in Pleasanton— will deliver fresh product to our new CSA site located in the Oneg Room at Temple Isaiah. The CSA site will be open every Tuesday from 3 pm to 7 pm from June 1 to the end of November.
In addition, CSA members and the broader Temple Isaiah and CCJDS community will be able to participate in social events and educational programming on sustainable agriculture during the next year. This includes three Shabbat community meals made with ingredients from our CSA farm partners, field trips to the farms, improvements to the Gan Ilan garden and educational events including cooking classes and Torah study. Thanks to all of you, our CSA project is one of ten projects that will receive a grant from Hazon, the largest environmental organization in the Jewish community. The grant will help support these community wide activities.
What Choices Do I Have As a CSA Member?
CSA members have the choice of picking up a pre-packaged box of produce from Shooting Star CSA or choosing their own fruits and vegetables at a farmers’ market style CSA pick up site supported by Terra Bella Farms and Free Wheelin Farms.
All CSA members will also have the chance to participate in the “Trade” table, which lets members exchange produce, as well as the “Surplus” section, which allows members to receive free surplus produce from the farms (think about all of those extra tomatoes and zucchini in late summer!) CSA members will also get a chance to purchase extra portions of highly desired produce like peaches and strawberries at the “For Sale” table. Finally, CSA members will also have a chance to donate food from their CSA shares to the Contra Costa Food Bank and a local cancer support group. Surplus food from backyard food gardens can also be brought to the CSA site, to share with others.
How do I sign up?
To become a CSA member, you need to choose the farm you would like to receive your produce from, and join their CSA.
- The Shooting Star CSA provides its members with a box of diverse array of vegetables, berries and melons for 28 weeks at a cost of $616 for the season ($22/week), which can be paid in 2 installments. Half season (14 weeks) and 4 week packages are also available.
- Terra Bella Farms and Free Wheelin Farms are joining together to provide a 22 week package featuring a broad array of vegetables, fruits including berries, stone fruits (peaches, nectarines, plums, cherries, etc.), tree fruits (apples, pears, etc.) and 2 loaves of artisan breads at a cost of $660/season ($30 per week) which can be paid in two installments.
Boxes serve 2-4 people. Many CSA members share their box with another family. If you would like to share with someone else, but do not have a partner, Terra Bella Farms will help you find a share partner.
To become a CSA member, you need to do the following:
- Choose the farm you would like to support as a CSA member (Shooting Star CSA or Terra Bella/Free Wheelin’)
- Sign up by filling out a CSA membership postcard or membership form from the farm’s website: www.shootingstarcsa.com or www.terrabellafamilyfarm.com Please Note: If Lafayette does not appear as a pickup location on the Shooting Star sign-up form please write it in.
- Send your CSA membership payment to the CSA farm (either Shooting Star or Terra Bella).
- Pick up your box of produce on Tuesday afternoons in the Oneg Room and enjoy your beautiful food!
If you would like to help support the CSA project, or the broader community building activities described above as a volunteer, please contact Rebecca Calahan Klein at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address). Donations can also be sent to Temple Isaiah.