Sunday, October 05, 2008

CSA HOME DELIVERY Survey Response Summary

This is an open letter to CSA members of the Foote Farm’s “Garden
Samplings” pilot home delivery program.  It is a summary of responses
to the season end survey of members, suggested improvements, additional
inclusions, action steps going forward.

BACKGROUND NOTES:

Berkshire Harmony launched a pilot CSA Home Delivery program – Foote Farm “Garden
Samplings” into a southeast Pittsfield neighborhood during the summer
2008 harvest season.

Mission:
The mission of the program was to introduce neighbors to the concept and practical
application of the efficient, eco-friendly, convenience of a safe and
secure, weekly, bicycle/cargo trailer delivery system for fresh,
nutrition rich, natural and locally grown fruits and vegetables
directly from the farm to home. This is an easily scalable system and
the basis for developing the most effective ”all costs in” (internal
financial and external environmental costs) method for the
transportation and delivery of fresh farm products.

Community Driven:
The program further serves as a scaleable working research model to obtain
community feedback and guidance for the expanded program being offered
to a greater universe of neighborhoods of Pittsfield residents for the 2009 season.
Every member of the community has a voice that is heard in the execution of the process.

Multi-farm sustainable CSA:
For the purposes of the pilot program “the farm” was a 10,000 square foot backyard garden on what remains of the original Foote Farm (founded
1881) on Holmes Road in Pittsfield. Produce from Berkshire farmers and
growers within 100-mile radius will be drawn upon to fulfill
subscriptions for the 2009 Pittsfield CSA Home Delivery program and to
support the accelerated growth of a sustainable system in the ensuing
years.

Eco-conscious, naturally grown:
The growing technique at Foote Farm is natural in that no chemical based
fertilizers; pesticides, herbicides or fungicides are used in the
process.  Out of respect for the extensive scrutiny and expensive
process certified growers adhere to, we do not use the term
“organically grown” to describe our process. We do, however, apply
similar methods for growing. These include a focus on nutrition
enhancing soil building, composting, crop rotating, mulching, raised
bedding, row covering low tunnels, mostly organic seeds and seedlings
and water conserving irrigation to achieve the foundation necessary to
yield the highest quality produce.

Freshness assured:
The fruits and vegetables are most often harvested at full ripeness on the
day of delivery for freshest quality achievable without growing your
own. Each basket share is a half-bushel size with a diverse variety of
8-10 fruits and vegetables that varied over the course of the season as
the produce ripened and was harvested.

Diversity:
Among the selections the basket share included were: tomatoes, bell peppers
and hot peppers, cucumbers, egg plant, lettuce, salad mixes of leafy
greens, onions, potatoes, beans, melons, green and yellow zucchini,
other squash varieties like: summer, acorn, butternut, delicata along
with kale, a hint of mint, and other selections. The choices were
diverse enough for the “garden samplings” but short of the wide variety
of selection of a full scale CSA program.

Informal survey:
It should be noted that the survey is less than scientific in its
methodology and should not be considered statistically accurate since
there were less than a dozen respondents at the time of tally. 

Serving and satisfying members’ needs:
Taken for what it is, the informal survey responses reflect a glimpse at the
insights and guidance offered by a cross section of participants
consisting of individuals, couples, and small family households. The
responses further reflect the wants and desires members have that are
necessary to fulfill in serving and satisfying their needs and
expectations. It is fairly safe to say, they share these expectations
with many other people who want to add more and more fresh, locally
grown produce to their daily diet.

Summary of responses, comments and action steps going forward:
With one exception the overall program surpassed everyone’s expectations and
matched expectations in the other case.  This would suggest we are most
likely headed in the right direction.

The variety of fruits and vegetables, quality, share size, and financial value of the program
again surpassed expectations with only a couple of exceptions, where
more details need to be known.

Suggestions for a broader more diversified selection of produce included: Arugula, beets, berries, butternut squash, carrots, corn, heirloom tomatoes, herbs (basil,
parsley, thyme), lima beans, lots more lettuce, and more “snackable
items” like pole beans and peas. CSA’s growers usually produce all
these items and more. Crop diversity is commonly the center of CSA
farmers’ philosophy for growing to preserve many of the vanishing
species of fruits and vegetables. The message is clear; members want
these items.  This is the direction that will be given to participating
CSA producers.

Most everyone’s expectations were surpassed with the quality of the delivery service with a couple of indicators that
there is room for improvement.  There are tweaks to be made to make the
delivery system better yet.

The idea of offering “additional farm products” was well received.  In the case where the answer was NO, it was interesting to see the suggestion to include berries (good idea)
into the distribution.  This was not the only request for berries. Many
CSA’s get the same request and offer a “Fruit Share” including berries
and other fruits as an optional, add on for members.  The fruit makes
for “good snacks.”  Some farms offer u-pick fruits, u-cut flowers, and
u-pick selected veggies days at the farm at no additional charge.  The
suggestion opens the discussion to possibly offer a soft fruit and
veggie combo share among the offerings.

Other farm products–eggs, baked goods, cheese etc. would most likely be offered
and ordered on an optional “ala Carte” as wanted, when needed basis.

Recipes were a good suggestion and they are included by most CSA’s.  It would
have been helpful to include them with the Kale that was a surprise to
some. When Kale is sautéed in chopped garlic and oil along with being
dashed to taste with salt and pepper it makes a delightful, strong
flavored addition to dinner.

The response as to whether participants would volunteer time was the most mixed response ranging
from: yes, yes-maybe, no, no maybe, to maybe.  In all fairness it must
not have been a well-asked question, if it created such a challenge to
answer.  Most CSA’s request or require some contribution of volunteer
time from members in support of the CSA.  If the call to duty were to
be defined clearly, it would most likely be easier to volunteer time.

Everyone agreed the convenience of home delivery was of “high value” to them and
all expressed an interest in subscribing to a similar program again.

Let’s work together to make that happen. 

Everyone indicated they would recommend the program to friends, relatives, and
neighbors. This is precisely where we need your assistance now.

I am asking you to give us a hand now. 

This week we posted to the Berkshire Harmony Blog a preview announcement of
the Pittsfield CSA Home Delivery program for summer 2009.  Please visit
the site to discover what the plan is for going forward.  We invite you
and others to join with us in the coming year and possibly sooner with
a limited 2008-2009 Winter program should sufficient interest exists.

We need your support spreading the word today.

As a participant in the whole process you have an opinion you already expressed and an interesting “first hand story” to tell.

People respect your perspective and honor the credibility of your experience
more than anything else that can be said.  What people want to learn
most is what participants discovered in the process.  They value your
insights and opinion about the delivery of fresh, nutrition rich,
locally grown produce each week directly from the garden to your
kitchen.  They are interested your opinion about the quality and
quantity of produce, level of the service, how you enjoyed it and
anything else you might want to offer them.  What better assistance
could they share, than your knowledge and experience in guiding their
interest in becoming a Pittsfield CSA Home Delivery member.

Please post your comments to the Berkshire Harmony blog. If you haven’t posted
to a blog before, it is easy to do. Go to http://www.berkshireharmony.com, click on the blog, read it through and
on the bottom click on comments, then when the page reloads scroll
through the blog again to the new comment box at the bottom, enter your
opinion and suggestions, then click on submit.  Invite friends to check
it out.

We need many friends, family, and neighbors from next
door, down the street, around the corner, and nearby communities
participating in the program to create the efficiencies necessary for
sustaining this program at the most reasonable cost achievable. The
density of neighborhood membership is the driving force for reducing
transportation and delivery costs.

It is a pleasure to be
involved.  Your voice is loud and clear and appreciated. Community
speak is most valuable in making things happen.


Thanks,