CSA Partnership with Community Food Security Project

Note to readers, attached is the complete final report for FNE01-380

The goal of this project was to develop as CSA network that included a new urban farm, the Greater Rochester Urban Bounty (GRUB) CSA, which is part of the Northeast Neighborhood Alliance. The CSA was intended to meet the needs of an underserved population.

Initially the staff at GRUB had no experience with organic methods, and the project was slowed by personnel changes. There were also special challenges to developing an inner city garden, in that both vandalism and theft were troublesome. Still, despite these setbacks, the garden project has stabilized and gone forward—staffing issues were eventually resolved—and a CSA has been initiated with three shares. The project manager writes, “A tiny project to be sure, but it was a start. This season, they intend to recruit a dozen families. The eventual goal is a 50-menber CSA.”

The project took longer than anticipated, but the needed outreach for the coming year will likely include community cookouts and continuation of the GRUB brochure and newsletter, and the project manager will continue to advise and the support the new urban garden beyond the time boundaries of the grant.

• FNE01-380 Final Report
• FNE01-380 Articles and brochure