Buffalo Rising Online

Recently on BuffaloRising.com, YUM Editor Christa Seychew posted an article (with a great picture of smiling bologna, I might add) whose discussion morphed into the topic of Community Supported Agriculture. The discussion mentioned a couple of farms that do CSA deliveries in the area, and this prompted me to do a bit of research.

My decision to seek out local produce stems from a few personal biases. First, local produce tastes better. It doesn’t spend days sitting on a truck, it doesn’t need to be picked before ripened in order to keep it from rotting before it arrives at its final destination, and it's often grown with heirloom seeds on an organic farm. I’m not anti-science, but if a seed can be genetically modified to survive…

Porter Farms is the largest CSA in the area. They presently support 500 members with the capacity for an additional one hundred or more. This family owned and operated farm has been certified organic for 17 years and has operated as a CSA for the last 11.

Located halfway between Buffalo and Rochester in Elba, NY, Porter Farms has the advantage of servicing both of WNY’s largest cities. Buffalo members take turns driving out to the farm and bringing shares back for particular pickup locations in Buffalo, Amherst, Kenmore, Tonawanda, and Grand Island.

Porter Farms' commitment to the community goes beyond their CSA as evidenced in their initiation of many outreach programs. For example, in Buffalo they’ve worked with students from MAP, the Bennett Park Montessori, and the East Side’s We Care Neighborhood Block Club. They also maintain…

Considered leaders in WNY’s CSA trend, Native Offerings Farm was established in 1997; the first CSA in Erie County. Stew and Deb Ritchie, who run the farm with their three young children, received certification as a “naturally grown” farm two years ago.

Continuing their progressive approach, they offer a variety of shares. There’s the traditional summer and winter vegetable shares, but there is also a July Start share (a version of the summer share that starts later), a fruit share, a four season share, and pork and beef shares. The vegetable shares are offered in three different sizes: feeding anywhere between one and six people.

The meat shares work differently than the typical produce share. According to Stew, members purchase either a whole or half pig (125 lbs. or 63 lbs. respectively), or a quarter or half cow (125 lb…

With all the recent (and upcoming) focus on farming in YUM!, I’d like to take this opportunity to clarify some terms used in reference to farming techniques. In 2002, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) instated its National Organic Program (commonly referred to as NOP-- oh how the government loves acronyms) which meant that farms either had to become certified organic or drop the word “organic” from their products. In order for a farm to be certified organic, they must follow strict criteria. Some examples of these standards are: prohibition of synthetic pesticides, herbicides, fungicides, and fertilizers; explicit requirements for producing compost; and specifics for labeling and packaging.

To ensure uniform quality across the nat…

Jo'el Drajem's husband, Bruce, is full time military. While he's away she takes care of their children (ages 1 and 6), keeps up on the usual demands of running a household, and also manages the family business. That alone is impressive, but did I mention that the family business is a naturally raised livestock farm?

The Drajems raise Lowline Angus cross beef, Tamworth and Old Spot hogs, and chickens. Their mission is to naturally raise their animals from birth to finish; the animals are raised outside in a pasture, fed grain, and cared for without the use of hormones, steroids, or antibiotics. As they say at Blossom Hill, “We raise our animals the way nature intended.”

In fact, that's the inspiration behind Blossom Hill Farm; Jo'el and Bruce are both college graduates with successful careers (border agent and accountant/Military, respectively) but when they started learnin…

The term “CSA” has been bandied about on Buffalo Rising.com, often leading to the discovery that many of our readers don't know what CSA stands for, or what Community Supported Agriculture (the term for which CSA is an acronym) really means. A Community Supported Agriculture farm is a cooperative business structure in which individuals purchase shares (literally a share of the harvest) per season.

This model provides the farm with the cash it needs up front in order to move ahead with the planting and care of its crops and livestock. In many cases it also assists the farmer in determining what crops to plant, based on the needs of his shareholders.

CSA members pre-purchase their subscription for a particular season, most often the “summer” season which runs from June through October, though winter shares are equally beneficial. The CSA then provides its members wit…