Working the produce aisle, pandemic style
From Norfolk to Hamilton, community-support agriculture is all the rage this season
Nicole Cupolo picks beets at Manorun Organic Farm in Copetown. It sold out all 150 shares this year — up 30 from last year — with another 30 people on a waiting list to get weekly “harvest boxes.” More people are heading to farms for produce in these pandemic times. Read more on
To limit trips to the grocery store, shoppers in search of fresh produce are going straight to the source.
Interest in community-supported agriculture (CSA) has soared as customers wary of catching COVID-19 sign up to receive weekly boxes filled with a wide assortment of fruit and vegetables direct from area farms.
“Especially now with COVID and everything, I think people are looking for ways they can support local and not be in lineups at the grocery store,” said Kaitlyn Sega of Simcoe, who every week picks up a box brimming with vegetables grown at Meadow Lynn Market Garden, a CSA farm in Simcoe led by Sarah Judd.
“I think going back to the farm is your best option, and I’m even more grateful we have our CSA,” Sega said. Meadow Lynn’s membership grew steadily over its first five years in business, but Judd wasn’t planning to jump from the 75 members she had in 2019 to the 120 people who signed up for her veggie box program this year.
She’s aware some of her new customers are looking for a secure food source rather than the sense of community she strives to build through her CSA, where members prepay for 20 weeks’ worth of produce — 30 different crops grown on 1.75 acres — and then follow along as Judd grows their food, sharing in the highs and lows of life on the farm.
“Recognizing that, we want to make sure everyone has a good experience in our program and they really understand what we’re all about,” Judd said. “A lot of people moving here from the city want that connection to a farm and a farmer.”
That connection is what inspired Sega to sign up with Meadow Lynn after moving to Simcoe from Toronto five years ago.
“The idea of eating in season and knowing the person who was growing and picking our vegetables really appealed to me,” said Sega, who looks forward to Judd doling out new recipes and friendly advice along with her veggie box each week.
“To me, food tastes better with that kind of interaction,” Sega said. “You can see the fields your vegetables are being grown in. The whole experience is so enjoyable and it just kind of snaps you into that simpler way of living.”
CSA farmers throughout the region are reporting bumper crops of new members this year.
“Definitely the biggest year for us,” said Keshia Krucker, field manager at Manorun Farm in Copetown. “I think a lot of small farms in the area are having the same experience.”
Manorun sold out all 150 shares this year — up 30 from last year — with another 30 people on the waiting list to get weekly “harvest boxes” filled with an ever-changing variety of produce.
“People want to know where their food is coming from, and the comfort of knowing it’s being harvested by us and coming into less contact with people,” Krucker said.
The farm has gone digital for its 20th season, adding an online store to allow customers to pre-select their veggies, which they can either pick up or have delivered.
Branching Path Farm went from having 25 members last year — its third in business — to selling 72 shares after a spike in demand.
“We basically tripled our membership,” said farmer Nica van Beuzekom.
In a stroke of luck, she and fellow farmer Adam Mohammed purchased a twoacre parcel of land in Simcoe after previously renting less than an acre of land in Flamborough. The farmers need every inch of soil to fill their veggie boxes — which they deliver to customers in Hamilton — and for their weekly table at the Ottawa Street farmers market in Hamilton.
“We made a big jump and it seemed a little scary this spring, when everything was closing down. But it turned out to be a good year for us so far,” van Beuzekom said. “People like the convenience — fresh food was going to come to them and they didn’t have to go out for it.”
Branching Path offers flexible payment plans for members whose income has been affected by the pandemic, and what little food is left over each week goes to local food banks.
Although it was a scramble to hire
“Especially now with COVID and everything, I think people are looking for ways they can support local and not be in lineups at the grocery store.”
KAITLYN SEGA
MEADOW LYNN MARKET GARDEN SHOPPER
more staff, shift planned on-farm workshops online and change how pickup day works to limit physical interaction, Judd says she’s grateful that CSA farms like hers exist to meet a pressing need.
“We weren’t ready to grow at the rate that we’re growing this year, and of course there’ll be challenges along the way,” she said. “But this is the opportunity now to really share with others what we do. We can form a community around our food again.”
J.P. Antonacci’s reporting is funded by the Canadian government through its Local Journalism Initiative. The funding allows him to report on stories about the regions of Haldimand and Norfolk.