CSA in NYC
CSA FOR EVERYONE
Many CSAs across the city are interested in creating flexible payment options so that members of their community can join their CSA regardless of their income. Just Food will be offering a five part workshop series focusing on including community members of all income levels in your CSA.
All workshops are held at the Just Food office (1155 Avenue of the Americas between 44th Street and 45th Street, 3rd floor) from 6:00pm to 8:00pm unless otherwise noted. To RSVP for a workshop, please e-mail paula@justfood.org
CSA for Everyone Workshops for the 2012 Season Cycle
Wednesday, November 9, 2011: Flexible Payment Options for CSAs- Covers the basics of making your CSA available to everyone in your community regardless of income. Strategies we will discuss include: sliding scale pricing, subsidized shares, revolving loan funds and spreading payments over time.
Thursday, December 8, 2011: SNAP (Food Stamps) and CSA- Participants will learn how CSAs can accept food stamps as payment for their shares with ideas on how to manage this process. We will walk participants through the application process to become certified to accept food stamps for CSA membership.
Wednesday, January 18, 2012: Fundraising- Explore resources that are out there to help raise money to be able to offer lower cost shares to members or to create revolving loan funds. We will discuss grant opportunities and share fundraising event ideas.
Wednesday, February 8, 2012: Outreach to Low Income Community Members - We will focus on outreach to low-income community members. Participants will learn specific key points to discuss when explaining CSA to community members, we will brainstorm places to get the word out to low income community members, and we will discuss how to create an outreach plan. We will also look at how a CSA share financially compares to other things on your shopping list.
Wednesday, May 23, 2012: Engaging Members in Your CSA - We will share ideas on how to engage all of your members in the CSA with the goal of retaining your members throughout the season.
Friday, June 8, 2012:Accepting SNAP (Food Stamps) at your CSA- Learn the actual process of accepting SNAP benefits at your CSA distribution site using both the EBT machines and the paper voucher system. We will also discuss best practices for making members using EBT feel comfortable and welcome at your distribution.
