Fully subsidized CSA shares, connecting community to the land and offering healing through food access.
Equitable Food Access Initiative
Providing a limited number of CSA shares to qualifying low-income households identifying as Indigenous, Black, people of color, including immigrants, refugees, and people in reentry.
In Collaboration with Fort Baptist Farm.
Equitable Food Access is not a luxury and is a need to be met in our community. Indigenous people, along with other historically marginalized communities are disproportionately affected by a lack of healthy, nutritious foods. These communities suffer from diet-related heath issues and from intergenerational trauma that is exacerbated by lack of adequate healthy nutrition at alarmingly disproportionate rates.
These communities and their experiences are connected by displacement; this has a dire effect on the wellbeing of individuals, families, communities, and nations. In offering foods that are grown in right-relationship with our environment, in a regenerative manner, we offer a connection to the land that has the ability to assist in healing for these communities.
The Equitable Food Access Initiative (EFAI) is our commitment to alleviating these inequities and healing in our community.
What is a CSA?
CSA stands for Community-Supported Agriculture. A model for economical sustainability and sovereignty, the CSA model was created by Fanner Lou Hamer and the freedom farmer movement. With origins from after the slave rebellion, it was created to offset the impact of sharecropping, which was a highly exploitative practice post-emancipation.
Now, CSA’s are widely used to create more local and sustainable economies, mutually benefitting the consumer and farmer. Because of the labor and cost of producing food, often time CSA’s are not accessible for low-income families, with indigenous, black, people of color, immigrants and refugees being disproportionately affected.
Typically, in a standard CSA model, the consumer pays the farmer directly, at the beginning of the season, and every week for 5-6 months, they go to the farm and pick up a bag of fresh picked veggies and fruits. The consumer who pays the farmer for a CSA share is now a CSA member, Now, often times, farmers offer payment plans to create some accessibility for those who cannot pay the full amount up front.
Sometimes these farms also offer u-pick, where you can go to the farm and pick your own fruits, veggies and flowers. This is a highly variable aspect, and is dependent on the farm, and what is available throughout the season.
Applications are closed for the 2023 Season.
Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis, giving need-based priority to Haudenosaunee and other Indigenous people and families first.
We acknowledge the history of genocide and oppression of peoples in the so-called United States of America; need-based priority takes into account these histories. Please contact us with any questions about this process.
In Collaboration with…
Fort Baptist Farm
Fort Baptist Farm is a Black owned, family-run farm. We were established in 2017, on unceded land of the Cayuga Nation.
The Baptist Family enjoys the outdoors and farming is the ultimate outdoor endeavor.
Fort Baptist Farm values people over profit- and community and connectivity are ingrained in our practice of food sovereignty. We believe that everyone should have access to great food; and we are excited to bring fresh organically produced foods from our farm to your table