March 7, 2011

One Straw Farm rep to talk about CSA opportunity

Joan Norman of One Straw Farm in Baltimore County is coming to the Homewood campus this week to speak about Community Supported Agriculture opportunities. Her talk will be at noon on Wednesday, March 9, in Levering’s Great Hall.

For three years, Johns Hopkins has been participating in a CSA program with One Straw Farm, facilitated by the Bloomberg School’s Center for a Livable Future and the university’s Office of Sustainability. Since then, it has grown to three pickups: the Facilities Management Office on Remington, for Homewood participants; the Muller Building, for STScI employees; and the School of Public Health, for the East Baltimore campus. Last year, more than 100 people participated.

Participants in a CSA program pay up front before harvest and pick up shares of whatever organic produce the farm grows every week from June to November. The arrangement helps cover production costs and provides a degree of financial support for small farms. It also enables farmers to diversify their crops by focusing on the local market, and produce travels less distance to the point of sale.

For more information, click here.