College teams with Five Points Community Farm Market to bring community-supported agriculture to VWC
February 6, 2012
From fabulous fruits to gorgeous greens, campus life is about to get fresher. The President’s Environmental Issues Council, the group tasked with promoting a strong environmental ethic and cultivating sustainable policies, practices and curricula throughout the College, recently announced that the Five Points Community Farm Market of Norfolk will be offering community-supported agriculture (CSA) produce subscriptions to members of the VWC community.
The Farm Market is a grass-roots community non-profit that specializes in offering fresh local produce from area farmers. Each week, the CSA will be delivered to the college and feature a variety of produce from local, regional and statewide farmers. There will also be a mini Marlin Market, offering additional produce for sale by the item to the college community.
Virginia Wesleyan Adult Studies Program Academic Adviser and Outreach Coordinator Kathy Reese serves as chairman of the Farm Market Advisory Group and will head up the campus program.
“Fresh, locally grown produce is an important part of our dietary nutrition—more than many of us realize,” says Reese. “Broccoli grown in California is picked early for shipping, nitrogen gassed to ripen, and stocked in cold storage waiting to be displayed on grocery store shelves. By then it has lost up to 90 percent of its nutritional value.”
Subscribers to the CSA will receive fresh seasonal, local and regional produce each week along with recipes and ideas on how to prepare the produce from the farmers that work with the Five Points Community Farm Market. The subscription is enough to generously feed two veggie lovers or a family of four with vegetable side dishes.
The Spring CSA subscription and Marlin Market will operate each Thursday from 2:30 to 4:30 p.m. beginning March 29 and run through June 14. Half term subscriptions are also available March 29-May 10. Full subscriptions are $190 and half subscriptions are $85. Subscriptions can also be shared among coworkers, colleagues, friends, neighbors, and relatives.
Why Subscribe to a CSA?
- Support local farmers by creating a demand for what they grow, guaranteeing a market for their produce and expanding farm profitability by extending the growing season.
- Keep more dollars in your community by contributing to the establishment and maintenance of regional food production.
- Educate others and strengthen the link between the farm and the consumer by increasing understanding of how, where, when, and by whom our food is grown.
- Decrease your overall impact on the environment by eliminating packaging and greatly reducing the distance, and therefore energy required, for food to reach your table.
- Expand your taste buds and support your well-being by trying new and different nutrient-packed, locally grown goodies.
Find out more about what a CSA is and how it works. A Farm Market CSA information table will be set up on February 8, February 22 and March 7 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. in the Marlin Grill.
For more information, contact Kathy Reese at 757.455.3411 or kreese@vwu.edu.