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Urban CSA Update: West Philly!

Community Supported Agriculture programs have been gaining momentum in Philadelphia, and have become a great way for city dwellers to access local produce and meat straight from the farm. In a traditional CSA program, members pay in advance for a portion of the farmer’s total harvest. By sharing in some of the farmer’s risk for the growing season, members guarantee a stable income for farmers while receiving the freshest goods at discounted prices.

A new CSA, based in West Philadelphia’s Haddington neighborhood, is taking a different approach. Nonprofit group Urban Tree Connection has recently launched an urban farm CSA on a 2/3 acre lot at 53rd and Wyalusing Streets. For the past thirteen years Urban Tree Connection has been dedicated to transforming overgrown, trash filled lots into functional neighborhood green spaces. At the 5300 Wyalusing garden, local families can volunteer to work the land; preparing the plots, planting, maintaining, and harvesting as many as 30 different seasonal vegetables with the help of UTC members. Locals gain access to fresh, healthy food while beautifying the neighborhood and creating a self-sustaining community institution. The UTC is also working on setting up a farm share system that is affordable for low-income residents. The CSA will have two options for the neighborhood: shares that are paid for on a sliding scale basis, or food in exchange for labor; from farming to marketing, finance to distribution.

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[...] Art in the Age » Blog Archive » Urban CSA Update: West Philly! http://www.artintheage.com/blog/urban-csa-update-west-philly – view page – cached Community Supported Agriculture programs have been gaining momentum in Philadelphia, and have become a great way for city dwellers to access local produce and meat straight from the farm. In a traditional CSA program, members pay in advance for a portion of the farmer’s total harvest. By sharing in some of the farmer’s risk for the growing season, members guarantee a stable income for… Read moreCommunity Supported Agriculture programs have been gaining momentum in Philadelphia, and have become a great way for city dwellers to access local produce and meat straight from the farm. In a traditional CSA program, members pay in advance for a portion of the farmer’s total harvest. By sharing in some of the farmer’s risk for the growing season, members guarantee a stable income for farmers while receiving the freshest goods at discounted prices. View page Tweets about this link Topsy.Data.Twitter.User['artintheageroot'] = {“photo”:”http://a3.twimg.com/profile_images/532920591/AITA_Root-072051_normal.jpg”,”url”:”http://twitter.com/artintheageroot”,”nick”:”artintheageroot”}; artintheageroot: “Urban CSA Update: West Philly! http://www.artintheage.com/blog/urban-csa-update-west-philly/ ” 17 minutes ago view tweet retweet Topsy.Data.Twitter.User['artintheage'] = {“photo”:”http://a1.twimg.com/profile_images/81825328/l6836637082_3279_normal.jpg”,”url”:”http://twitter.com/artintheage”,”nick”:”artintheage”}; artintheage: “Urban CSA Update: West Philly! http://bit.ly/aoFZSZ #agriculture #green #urban ” 1 hour ago view tweet retweet Filter tweets [...]