Organic local produce that you can afford.
Equitable Food Access Initiative
In collaboration with Healthy Food for All, West Haven Farm, Fort Baptist Farm, and Full Plate Farm Collective, we will be providing a limited number of CSA shares to qualifying low-income households identifying as Indigenous, Black, people of color, including immigrants, refugees, and people in reentry.
Equitable Food Access is a need to be met in our communities, that is being exacerbated by the ongoing global health crisis. Indigenous people, along with other historically marginalized communities are disproportionately affected by a lack of healthy, nutritious foods. Disproportionately, these communities suffer from diet related health issues. Disproportionately, these communities suffer from traumas that run through generations, which the lack of healthy, nutritious foods exacerbate.
We can connect these communities and their experience by looking at the disconnection from land, which has a dire effect on the overall well-being of a person, family, community and nation. When we offer foods that are grown in nutrient rich soils, in a manner that is regenerative, in right-relationship with our environment, we offer a connection to the land that has the ability to assist healing processes for these communities.
We hope that through these partnerships, we can begin to turn these inequities around by offering a 20+ week long certified organic CSA share, for an almost nothing cost that meets your households income limits.
Applications are closed for the 2022 season. Stay tuned for more information.
What is a CSA?
CSA stands for Community-Supported Agriculture. A model for economical sustainability and sovereignty, the CSA model was created by Fanner Lou Hamer and the freedom farmer movement. With origins from after the slave rebellion, it was created to offset the impact of sharecropping, which was a highly exploitative practice post-emancipation.
Now, CSA’s are widely used to create more local and sustainable economies, mutually benefitting the consumer and farmer. Because of the labor and cost of producing food, often time CSA’s are not accessible for low-income families, with indigenous, black, people of color, immigrants and refugees being disproportionately affected.
Typically, in a standard CSA model, the consumer pays the farmer directly, at the beginning of the season, and every week for 5-6 months, they go to the farm and pick up a bag of fresh picked veggies and fruits. The consumer who pays the farmer for a CSA share is now a CSA member, Now, often times, farmers offer payment plans to create some accessibility for those who cannot pay the full amount up front.
Sometimes these farms also offer u-pick, where you can go to the farm and pick your own fruits, veggies and flowers. This is a highly variable aspect, and is dependent on the farm, and what is available throughout the season.
Applications are closed for the 2022 season. Stay tuned for more information.
Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis, giving need-based priority to Haudenosaunee and other Indigenous people and families first.
We acknowledge the history of genocide and oppression of peoples in the so-called United States of America; need-based priority takes into account these histories. Please contact us with any questions about this process.
Our 2022 Farm Partners:
West Haven Farm
West Haven Farm was purchased by Carlos Aguilera and Lorena Mendoza in 2019. Carlos and Lorena grew up in central Mexico in a small farming community. They started working on farms in the Finger Lakes region in the early 2000's. Through their experiences as farmers and consumers they came to know how important organic and sustainable farming is, and how little most people knew about where their food was coming from. They took on West Haven Farm with the goal of creating a safe, nourishing environment for their family and for the community to come and connect with food.
Our 10+ acre farm is Certified Organic by NOFA-NY Certified Organic, LLC, and is located on a beautiful hill two miles from downtown Ithaca, NY on the land of EcoVillage at Ithaca.
West Haven Farm is Ithaca's longest running Community Supported Agriculture program (since 1992). We value the relationships we cultivate with those who eat the food we grow, and feel good about knowing the people for whom we grow food.
Fort Baptist Farm
Fort Baptist Farm is a Black owned, family-run farm. We were established in 2017, on unceded land of the Cayuga Nation.
The Baptist Family enjoys the outdoors and farming is the ultimate outdoor endeavor.
Fort Baptist Farm values people over profit- and community and connectivity are ingrained in our practice of food sovereignty. We believe that everyone should have access to great food; and we are excited to bring fresh organically produced foods from our farm to your table
Full Plate Farm Collective
The Full Plate Farm Collective is a multi-farm CSA bringing together fresh produce from Stick and Stone Farm, Remembrance Farm and several other local growers. Full Plate offers both pack-your-own style and boxed CSA shares at locations around Ithaca, Tburg, Danby & Lansing. No matter where you pickup, your share includes around 10 unique, in season vegetables each week
In Collaboration With:
Healthy Food for All
Healthy Food For All (HFFA) is a non-profit program of Cornell Cooperative Extension Tompkins County in partnership with local farms. Since 2006, they’ve been making fresh, quality produce accessible to low-income families through Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) shares and educational resources. Now ending nutritional hunger for 200 families, HFFA is recognized as one of our region’s leading community food security programs.