Governor Linda Lingle Proposes Initiatives to Improve Food Self-Sufficiency.

VincentD — Mon, 26 Jan 2009 22:37:00 GMT

Governor Linda Linda speaking at the 5th Anniversary of the KCC Saturday Farmer's Market. Hawaii's Governor Linda Lingle in her 2009 State of the State address to the people of Hawaii shared her Administration's plan to achieve greater food...(read more)

Community Supported Agriculture

VincentD — Wed, 15 Aug 2007 17:57:00 GMT

Ever heard of Community Supported Agriculture -- or CSA? It's really "subscription farming." For those of us who live in the city and have, I admit, a "black" thumb, CSA's provide an opportunity to support a farming operation and receive, usually weekly, a box of produce. What's in the box varies from week to week depending upon what's being grown. The subscription fee goes to support the farmer and to cover costs of production. The farmer will often deliver the produce to you or to a centralized pick up point. When I attended the 2006 National SARE meeting in Wisconsin, last summer, there were several presentations given on Community Supported Agriculture. CSA's are growing, not only as an opportunity to market directly your product to consumers, but as an educational tool on many college campuses. The Michael Fields Agricultural Institute located outside of Madison, WI provides opportunities for University of Wisconsin students interested in sustainable agriculture to get hands on experience, while operating a CSA. The F.H. King Students of Sustainable Agriculture is an actual student run organization, also operating a CSA at the University of Wisconsin. Student-run CSA's are run on the campuses of the University of Minnesota, Michigan State University, Iowa State University, Cal Poly - San Luis Obispo, UC-Davis, Stanford and many more. The Rodale Institute maintains a directory of student run CSA's.

Unfortunately, Student-run farms and CSA's, in general, have not caught on well in Hawaii. The Ma'o Organic Farm on the Waianae Coast of Oahu is not a CSA but students from the area work on the farm. Kimberly Clark's (a former CTAHR student) Just Add Water is a commercial CSA that operates on Oahu; but there aren't that many in the state. The Hawaii Department of Agriculture provides a brief notice about CSA's on their web site but no directories. CTAHR maintains two sites with information on organic and sustainable agriculture. Nationally, more information about sustainable and organic agriculture can be found at the National Sustainable Agriculture Information Service which is managed by the National Center for Appropriate Technology.

Bottom line is that Buying Fresh and Buying Local doesn't necessarily mean going to your local farmer's market, although, in Hawaii that's the main way to do so. Community Supported Agriculture is another alternative. It's quite popular on the mainland, especially around urban centers. We can only hope that it expands further.

Sustainable Agriculture : Community Supported Agriculture

Governor Linda Lingle Proposes Initiatives to Improve Food Self-Sufficiency.

Community Supported Agriculture