Pioneering Project Brings Farm-Fresh Produce to Long Island City

 Walmart Grant Brings Aid to Low-Income Neighborhoods of All Five Boroughs,
Farm Fresh Fruits and Vegetable Shares Available through a Community Supported Agriculture Program for Families of All Incomes Levels

The fifth season of the Long Island City Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) began Wednesday, June 6th, 2012, and will continue every Wednesday through November 7th, 2012.
 
“Our CSA’s mission is to ‘make fresh, healthy produce, direct from the farmer available and accessible to any Long Island City resident, regardless of economic status,’” said Joel Berg, the Coalition’s executive director. In addition to fresh, organic, affordable vegetables, the Long Island City CSA will be offering a variety of optional shares to its members, including a fruit share.
 
The Walmart Foundation's State Giving Program has awarded a $50,000 grant to the Coalition to help it subsidize shares set aside for low-income members at this site, as well as similar sites in all five boroughs of the city, including those who pay with their food stamp benefits. Walmart and the Walmart Foundation have committed $2 billion in cash and in-kind donations to fight hunger through 2015.
 
“We want to do our part to help improve access to fresh and affordable food,” said Steven Restivo, senior director of community affairs for Walmart.  “We are proud to support this program and hope our contribution helps bring fruits and vegetables to those who need them most.”
 
Each CSA member receives a “share” of vegetables: a full share will feed 3-4 people and a half-share will feed 1-2 people depending on your typical diet.  We only have a limited amount of shares available for everyone, so don’t wait to purchase your share. To ensure that our shares are affordable for everyone, we offer flexible payment options for low-income households, and SNAP (also known as “the Food Stamps program”) benefits are also accepted to purchase vegetable and fruit shares. 
 
In addition to providing more fresh produce for consumers, CSAs also support local farmers. The Long Island City CSA will once again partner with the Farm at Miller’s Crossing, a 200-acre family farm in the Hudson Valley of New York. The fruit share will be provided by the Hepworth Farms, a seventh generation, family-owned farm in Milton, New York.  Each week, Hepworth Farms will provide a selection of locally grown fruits that are cultivated using practices as close to organic as possible in this region.
 
The farmers bring the harvest every Wednesday through November 7th at Hour Children, located at 36-49 11th Street, in Long Island City, Queens. Members pick up their shares from 5:00 to 8:00 p.m. 
 
For more information, please contact us at longislandcitycsa@gmail.com or at 212-825-0028 for a membership application. You can also visit our website at http://liccsa.wordpress.com to download the application. In addition to fresh organic food, there are also opportunities for cooking and nutrition workshops, farm visits, and food policy advocacy information.