If you've ever missed one of your CSA share pick-ups, you've probably wondered where all that food ends up. In light of the topics of food waste and food access, we try to redistribute the resources that come back to us as much as we can. Each week, the Food Bank of Western Massachusetts stops by to pick up excess produce from us and many other local farms. The Food Bank provides over 12 million meals per year to folks in Berkshire, Franklin, Hampshire, and Hampden counties.
Every Thursday, we send boxes of food with our CSA crew to the Brandeis Food Pantry and to the campus chapter of Food Not Bombs. For over 30 years, FNB has been building a network of volunteers and community partners to share food and meals with those that need them, and they have established hundreds of chapters around the world. Both organizations do an incredible job redistributing food donations to members of the greater community.
We also contribute what we can to local events that serve the community, including the Stone Soup Café’s annual free harvest supper. Each year, “hundreds of volunteers, over 30 farms, a dozen organizations, and countless home gardeners (along with over 1,000 hungry diners!) help make the supper a success.” While the event this year was cancelled due to Hurricane Henri, the food donated by local farms was still given out to members of the community through Stone Soup’s “free store.”
Even our compost makes its way to Fallen Oak Farm in Wendell, MA where the resident pigs are happy to munch on what we can’t make use of. Thank you so much to these incredible community organizations for getting food that would otherwise be wasted to where it can have a greater impact.
THINKING INSIDE THE BOX
Add in or swap out these items when customizing your share:
- Sweet corn
- Italian eggplant
- White onions, loose
- Savoy cabbage
- Chioggia, gold + red beets
- Curly green kale
- Jalapeño peppers
- Shishito peppers
- Garlic, loose heads
- Watermelon
- Cantaloupe
- Tomatoes
- Cherry tomatoes – available as an extra only!
Fruit of the week: PEACHES!
Bread of the week: Black Currant Levain
Mushrooms of the week: Oyster
*All items listed above are available for swapping as well as purchasing as extras unless noted otherwise*
RECIPES OF THE WEEK
Dutch ham, gouda, tomato, and egg sandwich (uitsmijter)
Peach salad with grilled chicken & white balsamic honey vinaigrette
