Neighborhood Foods, West Philadelphia’s first urban farm-based CSA, is accepting members for the 2012 season.
Members of the Neighborhood Foods CSA will receive weekly shares of vegetables from West Philly gardens and fruit from farms in the greater Philadelphia area. The 22-week CSA runs from mid-May to October, and offers add-on options of locally-produced seasonal jam, local honey, and bread from Four Worlds Bakery.
All profits from this CSA are re-invested into the Haddington and Walnut Hill neighborhoods where the produce is grown, supporting urban employment and youth leadership development.
To become a member, fill out the application form here.
Pick up sites in West Philly are:
– Walnut Hill Community Farm at 46th & Market Streets, Friday afternoon
– Four Worlds Bakery at 47th & Woodland Streets, Friday evening or Saturday morning
The Neighborhood Foods CSA is a collaboration between West Philadelphia nonprofits Urban Tree Connection and Enterprise Center Community Development Corporation.
February 20th, 2012 at 11:29 am
CSA’s are awesome. A great way to support local agriculture and get fresh, high quality local food.
There. I’d love to see someone figure out how to have a fight over that one.
February 20th, 2012 at 9:25 pm
Word on the street is that Trader Joe’s has a call into that vacant triangle area where the PFCU used to be. They’ll put that CSA out of business in a few months and probably make the Farmer’s Market redundant at best.
God bless capitalism!
February 21st, 2012 at 11:32 am
Trader Joe’s has crappy produce, no problem there.
CSA’s are great until one runs off with your money never to be seen again, like what happened to a bunch of us a couple years ago with Keystone.
February 21st, 2012 at 12:55 pm
Curmudgeon is pulling everyone’s legs.
#1 same neighbors opposed to Philly Flavors have in years past also shot down a produce market operated by Mr. Kim from the old Firehouse Farmer’s Market so any store selling produce one assumes is a “no go” to them
#2 TJ’s is extremely conservative about opening new locations
#3 their produce section indeed somewhat “crappy”
February 21st, 2012 at 3:19 pm
@Sherry W: I was a member of Keystone, and they were suffering through the loss of one of their primary farmers (the husband of the husband and wife farm)who was battling cancer. They withdrew their services, and as the manpower to harvest and plant dwindled, so did the produce. Phylann tried her best to accommodate their members. Seeing the farm go was sad. When you sign up or “buy in” to a CSA, you are entering a relationship with the farmers and with the land. You acknowledge that not only might the land might not produce as predicted, but also the the people might not be able to farm as predicted, say, if they become extremely ill. Then you hope for the best! In CSA relationships, there is no gaurantee from either the land or the people- like a gaurantee you might be able to hold a store accountable to- like a Trader Joe’s, or a Whole Food’s or a Pathmark. But that’s a gamble, in a sense, that is worth it to many to know where their food is growing, what is going into their food, and to know the people who are planting and harvesting it their food. When we support a CSA, we are supporting a lot more than just the share we receive. We are supporting the community it builds.
February 21st, 2012 at 6:32 pm
Clark Park’s Landisdale Farms CSA gave us weeks of sweet potatoes, kale and garlic scapes but only the occasional tomato. I though there was something wrong with the farm until I woke up early one Saturday and found the stand piled high with tomatoes and still NONE in my CSA box. The decision probably made business sense but it goes against the spirit of the CSA to stiff your share members like that.
Since this CSA is the work of a nonprofit collaboration, I bet they will do their members better.
February 21st, 2012 at 7:16 pm
Not urban, but a great CSA that is very reliable and abundant is http://www.lancasterfarmfresh.com/
February 21st, 2012 at 8:48 pm
There are also call in to put a Mineralistic franchise at 5013 Baltimore. That should bring some much needed artisan chic to the neighborhood. I cannot find anywhere to buy candles that spew inexpensive gift stones when they are extinguished. I am surprised that nobody is watching all of these occupancy application going in. It’s public knowledge.
February 24th, 2012 at 4:18 pm
Angie: Sorry, no they did not “try their best” to accommodate the members. She said she would refund us and it never happened. Then no emails, no phone calls, no return letters to customers. She disappeared. Illness and other family issues are not crop failure, which is the risk I agreed to accept in my CSA contract I’m looking at right now. I know she was taken to small claims court and the CSA member won, so she must have had an obligation.
I am truly sorry her husband was sick, really I am. I did not expect intermediate payment. Two years later many of us are still out hundreds of dollars with nothing when we had been promised eventual refunds. Maybe they could of sent us some Maple syrup from what seems like a nice sugar business they still managed to run that year? Or more meat from the meat or cheese supplier? Or just a simple returned phone call?
Anyway, I learned a lesson- never a pay a year upfront for any type of CSA again. If I want to give a donation to a struggling farm, that’s another matter.