The 2018 CSA season is officially in full swing! The Food Hub Team is busy aggregating produce from our alumni farmers and forming a bountiful fruit and vegetable share. Despite a late start to the season, our farmers have been delivering beautiful produce to the Food Hub. The season kicked off with a week one CSA share featuring baby bib lettuce and the biggest bunches of cilantro from farmer Rechhat Proum, mustard greens from Sorn Un, garlic scapes from Berube Farm and Full Basket Farm, hakurei turnips from Full Basket Farm, pea shoots, mint, and parsley from Seona Ban Ngufor, and collard greens from Phalla’s Produce. We also sourced local crops from established area farms: beets from Kitchen Garden Farm and strawberries from Warner Farm. Learn more about our farmers here.
The CSA and Food Access program also wouldn’t be possible without the help of our volunteers. This season, we have an amazing group from American Training that are helping us every week! American Training is an organization based in Lowell that works with individuals with disabilities to help them engage with their communities and live meaningful lives. Twice a week, Guests from American Training come to the food hub to pack produce into colorful CSA shares. Their enthusiasm and hard work is truly infectious! Noah Venuti, Business Developer at American Training, describes how the partnership benefits everyone:
“Our Guests have expressed gratitude and excitement when spending time with the team over at New Entry. Along with having this amazing opportunity of volunteering and learning how the farming program works, the Guests at American Training are encouraged to take home fresh produce at the end of each volunteer session. One Guest used the fresh mint to make a refreshing mint tea for everyone to try. We are truly thankful for such a rewarding connection with all the team members of New Entry.”
We appreciate the awesome work we can do together with our farmers and volunteers. We anticipate a great season ahead! Summer farm share registration is filled, but you can still sign up for a fall share. Visit https://nesfp.localfoodmarketplace.com/ to learn more and sign up. Fall shares start on August 28th. Email us at foodhub@nesfp.org if you'd like to volunteer at the Food Hub. Happy Eating!