What’s a CSA?

Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) programs developed around the concept of “investing” in local, small-scale farms. Before the start of the season, members sign up for a “share” in the farm and pay up front so the farmer can plan crops accordingly and purchase seed without taking loans. During the harvest season the farm delivers weekly bundles of produce, giving their “investors” a great value on high quality produce.

What does the Katchkie Farm Corporate CSA consist of?

Modeled on the concept of a traditional CSA, Katchkie Farm’s Corporate CSA expands it for the workplace. Gather 20 (or more) employees and we will deliver CSA shares directly to you, at your office, each week, month or however often you choose. There are multiple benefits to this arrangement: CSA’s are a great tool for companies supporting the local food movement and good environmental practices; and CSA’s encouraging healthy eating for employees to team building.

Corporate CSAs also build inter-office camaraderie: one of our corporate clients, WSP Flack + Kurtz organized an Iron Chef-type cook off, in which employees cooked their favorite recipe with produce from their CSA share. Co-workers also explore new and unfamiliar vegetables together, sharing recipes and culinary triumphs and failures.
Each share includes eight to nine different certified organic vegetables that change with the seasons. A share in July might include broccoli, carrots, cucumber, eggplant, kale, summer onions, scallions, lettuce, zucchini and parsley. A share in October could include beets, garlic, celery root, onions, mustard greens, leeks, butternut squash, peppers, tomatoes and turnips.

In addition to the veggies themselves, members receive weekly newsletters with updates from the farm, cooking tips and recipes. All members are invited to the farm, in Kinderhook, New York for Spring Planting Day in June, the annual Farm to Table dinner in July and October for the Fall Harvest Festival.

Benefits

The Katchkie Farm Corporate CSA will expose employees to fresh, local produce and, when conducted in conjunction with Great Performances’ cooking demonstrations, teach them simple ways to prepare delicious meals. The program will help you create and encourage health and wellbeing among your employees and their families, while exposing them to the taste of great seasonal food. By supporting a local, organic farm your company will also be taking steps to decrease the carbon footprint of your food supply and heightening awareness of healthy eating.

Options

We are happy to tailor any program to best fit your needs and provide maximum benefit to your company. You can choose to include cooking demonstrations with Great Performances’ chefs each month, or simply provide a space for employees to pickup produce.

Reviews of Corporate Cooking Demos from the 2010 Summer Season

“Once I experienced my first Katchkie cooking demonstration using their own seasonal produce, I made an effort to attend as many as I could, and not just because I am vegetarian and love to cook. I like trying new things (such as beets–I actually like them now–and learning to pickle), and these demos were very professionally done but fun. We learned a lot, felt free to ask questions about anything food related, and tasted all the wonderful food. The recipes were easily done at home and the high quality of the ingredients was obvious as everything was delicious. I made the beet appetizer and the pumpkin soup for Thanksgiving and those dishes were the first to disappear.”

-Eleanor G.

“I really loved the Katchkie Farm cooking demos.  I learned to cook with fresh vegetables and–most importantly–I learned to cook with herbs.  I made the butternut squash soup for an elderly neighbor who was under the weather…and now she wants me to make it every week for her lol.   I can’t wait for the cooking demos to start up again!”

-Heidi C.

Read about the Katchkie Farm Corporate CSA on Crain’s New York

Please contact alice@katchkiefarm.com for more information about this innovative program for your office.