Yesterday I went to a BBQ for the Calgary Food Policy Council and I was able to speak to some of the people I met at a Slow Food event in July. One of them was the man who owns the biodiversity farm that we visited for the Slow Food BBQ.
He mentioned that he would like to have a CSA, but he does not want to operate it himself. He wants to focus on the farming and allow someone else to administer the CSA. That does make sense to me. He will figure out the cost of a share in the CSA, and he would need about 50 shares to make it viable. There are no existing CSAs in Calgary right now. For those of you who do not know what a CSA is, it is a group that bands to together to support local agriculture. The way that we show our support is by buying a `share' in a group committed to buying a box of harvested vegetables from a given farm every week. There is no guarantee of what will be in the box - it's a mix of that week's harvest. It also has to be stated that in weeks, like we had this summer with hail, there may be no vegetables for a week or two as well.
We also discussed the idea of a local food co-op. Not just for buying, but also for making the process of local eating more efficient. One example he mentioned is that a neighbour of his has a large greenhouse with a fan extracting excess moisture. It would not be that difficult to build a large dehydrator for food in the corner. What about one person in a neighbourhood with a cold room storing food for their area? What about canning sessions like our great-grandmothers used to do?
For buying, we could take advantage of bulk buying to get better prices from certain suppliers/farms. I know that I have found that I often get bulk discounts because of the volume I buy. Since I am buying for a year when I buy my produce, my volume is obviously greater. But, what about grouping together for buying bison, beef or chickens? What about honey, flour or corn? I wonder what a truckload of corn would cost instead of buying it by the sac?
The purpose would be to band together to make local eating more efficient and more financially viable.
It was mentioned that the group would have to cover a large area in the beginning, and while it may make the group seem redundant since the food miles would be greater, it would still make sense. If we try to form a group like this in a particular neighbourhood, we would never get enough people. However, if we do it in a large enough area to have enough people, then we can start it. Word of mouth will help the participation to grow and as participation grows, we can subdivide the group based on neighbourhoods. Ultimately, we would get down to the neighbourhoods, but it probably isn't viable to start there.
That's the idea.
Anyone interested?
Would you be interested in a buying co-op?
Would you be interested in a CSA?
Would you be interested in working together to make local eating more efficient?
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