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Join a Community Supported Agriculture, support
local farmers
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by Vanessa Clark
MUSC Dietetic Intern
The items in your lunch today traveled an average of 1,020 miles to get
to you, according to The Journal of Environmental Science &
Technology.
The greenhouse gases emitted on this journey represent only 4 percent
of the total emissions released to produce and deliver food. Purchasing
local foods is a great way to reduce these environmental pollutants,
provide healthy food and support the local economy.
One of the best
ways to go local when spring hits is by signing up for a CSA (Community
Supported Agriculture) share. By joining a CSA, you’re teaming up with
a particular farm (or farmer) for the season. Members pay for a “share”
in advance and receive a box (small, medium, or large) of produce every
week. Shares are either picked up weekly at a communal delivery site or
are delivered to your doorstep. For those living and cooking alone,
shares are often perfect for sharing. Talk to neighbors, and coworkers
about teaming up to split food, costs, and pickups. Most shares cost
about $7 to $10 per person, per week.
Local CSAs aren’t limited to selling things that grow out of the
ground. CSA groups in the area offer everything from fresh vegetables,
fruits and herbs to beef, poultry, fish, and even clams and oysters. A
great place to start your journey home is with Lowcountry Local First
(http://lowcountrylocalfirst.org/). The website has a list of farms
that offer CSA shares, some that even have drop-off sites at or near
MUSC.
Although winter’s chill is still here, don’t wait to secure your spring
farm share. Many farms will sell out as the growing season approaches.
January may seem like a tough time to purchase locally, but, if you
know where to look, it can be as easy as finding peach cobbler at a
summer picnic.
Load up on local products at any of the following:
Thornhill Farm—Seasonal
CSA shares. Visit http://ourlocalfoods.com/.
Thornhill Farm has offered to start a drop-off site for online grocery
orders at MUSC. Contact clarv@musc.edu.
The Vegetable
Bin, Whole Foods, and Earth Fare carry some items from
Thackeray, Fields Farm, Mepkin Abby Mushrooms and Giddy Goat Cheese.
Boone Hall Farms—Market
with some locally sourced products. http://boonehallfarms.com/
Ray & Les
Oliver—Farm store selling grass-fed beef in Vance. E-mail
riverrunfarms@live.com.
Keegan-Filion
Farm—Local, pastured chicken and pork and grass-fed beef. http://www.keeganfilionfarm.com
or akfilion@yahoo.com
Clammer Dave—David
Belanger’s oyster, clam CSA. dbelag@email.com
Sustainable Seafood—http://scaquarium.org/SSI/default.html
Friday, Jan. 21,
2011
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