Locally grown food, delivered to your - The Chronicle

Published Mar 1, 2013 at 9:34 am (Updated Mar 1, 2013) var fontSize = 16; $(document).ready(function(){ $('.decreaseFont').click(function() { if(fontSize > 8){ fontSize = fontSize - 1; $('.article-text').css('font-size',fontSize); $('.caption').css('font-size',fontSize); } }); $('.increaseFont').click(function() { if(fontSize Make text smaller Make text larger

A basket of fresh produce from J. Glebocki Farms. This may, or may not, be representatiave of an actual share, depending on what's in season. A share will contain six to eight seasonal vegetables weighing about a pound or a pound and a half each. Potatoes will be in 8 to 12 pound bags. (Photo courtesy of J. Glebocki Farms)

J. Glebocki Farms' market stall in the growing season. (Photo courtesy J. Glebock Farms)

By Ginny Privitar
GOSHEN — Come this June, savvy shoppers can have seasonal, locally grown and freshly picked produce delivered right to their workplace.

J. Glebocki Farms of Goshen is initiating a new Community Supported Agriculture program they’re calling Workplace CSA.

They already have a farm-based CSA program, where shareholders can come to the farm on Maloney Lane on Thursdays to pick up their weekly share during the growing season. But as owner and fifth-generation farmer John Glebocki noted, many people do not live near the farm, so they’ve started this workplace delivery program to make their produce available to everyone.

For each workplace that signs up at least 10 people, Glebocki Farms will deliver, per person, a weekly box of 6-8 seasonal vegetables, for each of the 26 weeks of the growing season, from June 6 through Nov. 27. That works out to about $15 per week, or a total share cost of $400 for the season. Payment plan options are available.

They will be at each workplace location for an hour weekly and will also have a small market set up with additional items that can be purchased. If the shareholder is out that day, a designee can pick up the items for them. Otherwise the share will be donated to a family in need.

A typical early July share might include red Russian kale, red leaf lettuce, purple potatoes, golden beets, baby carrots, yellow zucchini, artichokes and watermelon.

An August share might include garlic, tomatoes, basil, leeks, turnips, potatoes (8-12 pound bag) and spinach. Each delivery comes with a weekly newsletter featuring tasty new recipes to try and news about the farm and workshop programs.

If an individual arranges to manage the program at their workplace, they will receive a free share.

The season kicks off in June. So far they have signed up Crystal Run Healthcare facilities, the Rockland County Department of Health and SUNY Orange.

But the program is not just for workplaces. Church groups, homeowners associations and other groups are encouraged to become members and receive the same benefits.

Shareholders will not only benefit themselves, but their communities. As Glebocki said, “Our commitment is also to our community members. For each 2013 CSA share sold, we will donate one box of produce each week (that's 26 total) to local food pantries.”

SIDEBAR: About J. Glebocki Farms:

J. Glebocki Farms, owned and operated by John Glebocki, grows a wide variety of vegetables and specialty crops for farmer's markets and specialty wholesalers in the tri-state area. They’ve been in business since 1894. Currently they provide produce to 21 farmers markets in the five boroughs of New York City.

On his website, Glebocki says, “We pride ourselves in offering responsibly grown farm fresh produce that is safe and healthy to eat. Since safe growing practices and product handling are priorities at our farm, our shoppers can be confident in the quality of the produce they purchase from J. Glebocki Farms. We are USDA GAP Food Safety Certified (Good Agricultural Practices).

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Organic, locally grown food gaining ground in Iowa

Kathleen Stewart (left) and Emma Hornsby, both of Iowa City, choose organic potatoes at New Pioneer Food Co-op in Coralville on Wednesday. From 2008 through 2012, New Pioneer’s purchases from local producers increased 39.86 percent to nearly $1.7 million last year, New Pioneer marketing manager Jenifer Angerer said. (Kaitlyn Bernauer/The Gazette)

Though few hard statistics are available, Iowans’ appetite for organic food and locally raised fruits and vegetables appears to be growing.

“We don’t have real current and accurate data, but my sense is that, yes, we are getting more organic growers and more people raising food for local consumption,” said Maury Wills, bureau chief of agriculture diversification and market development for the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship.

Data for specialty crops “is just not there like it is for commodity crops such as corn and soybeans,” said state horticulturist Mike Bevins.

While the number of farmers markets in Iowa doubled from 2004 to 2009, more recent developments won’t be known until the next USDA farmers market survey is conducted in 2014, Bevins said.

“Specialty crops are a very important part of Iowa agriculture, as they allow farmers to diversify and give customers access to locally grown products,” Iowa Agriculture Secretary Bill Northey said Thursday in announcing the availability of $271,000 in grants to enhance the competitiveness of specialty crops.

The specialty crops segment is definitely growing in the Iowa City area, according to Jenifer Angerer, marketing manager at New Pioneer Food Co-op with stores in Iowa City and Coralville.

From 2008 through 2012, New Pioneer’s purchases from local producers increased 39.86 percent to nearly $1.7 million last year, Angerer said.

Local produce “is the fastest-growing segment of food production,” said Jason Grimm, food systems planner with the Iowa Valley RC&D in Amana.

Grimm said the Iowa Valley Food Co-op, an online network of producers and consumers in Eastern Iowa, has grown to more than 450 members since it was founded in August 2011.

Restaurants have also recently become an important outlet for locally grown produce, he said.

Grimm, who helps newcomers break into the business, said marketing is more difficult than production.

“You need to start lining up customers before you plant the seeds,” he said.

New Pioneer specializes in both organic foods, which are certified to have been produced in accordance with well-defined natural specifications, and locally grown products, which are often produced with similar care but lack the certification.

‘Fresher is better’

Angerer said New Pioneer customers believe “fresher is better.”

In a farm state that imports 90 percent of the food its residents eat, conscientious Iowans worry about the carbon footprint inherent in transporting food great distances, she said.

They also believe that small-scale production, as opposed to industrial models, is friendlier to the environment, more sustainable and more accountable in an era of food scares involving pathogen contamination, she said.

New Pioneer buys from about 30 local producers with more growers applying each year, said Mike Krough, the company’s produce coordinator.

Maximizing locally sourced products is part of New Pioneer’s mission to support the local economy, he said.

Certified organic food — which can cost as much as one-third more than conventionally produced food — is a much bigger deal in Iowa City than it is in Cedar Rapids, according to Teresa White, farmers market coordinator for the city of Cedar Rapids.

“Iowa City people care more about how food is raised and will pay the price,” White said.

While Cedar Rapids residents value fresh, locally raised fruits and vegetables, they seem less willing to pay the premium commanded by organic produce, she said.

Locally grown produce is the biggest attraction at the new Downtown Farmers’ market, according to Jill Wilkins, who manages the market for the Cedar Rapids Metro Economic Alliance.

About one-fourth of the 220 vendors specialize in horticultural products, and they almost always sell out, she said.

Jim Fink, who has operated a 40-acre organic farm near Urbana for the past 20 years, said farming without chemicals is not all that different from the way his parents farmed.

Fink, who said he finds chemicals “disagreeable,” fertilizes his soil with manure from his organically raised livestock and controls weeds through crop rotation and mechanical cultivation.

Fink, who derives much of his income from the sale of beef and pork, emphasizes that his meat is not certified organic, but that is only because he cannot find a meat processor willing to invest the time and money in achieving organic certification.

Fink’s hogs and cattle eat only organic food, much of it produced on his farm, and they thrive without the hormones and antibiotics common to modern meat production.

“I sell it as ‘natural’ and set my prices at the higher end of the market,” he said.

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