Summer & Fall Season CSA: World PEAS
The World PEAS CSA is a program of the New Entry Sustainable Farming Project, sponsored by Tufts University ‘s Freidman School and Community Teamwork Inc.. They deliver to both the Medford and Boston campuses.
Sign up before May 15th to guarantee a spot for the 2013 season, which will run for 20 weeks from June 12th through October 23rd. World PEAS is also offering an academic share that will offer students the opportunity to eat fresh, local produce for 8 weeks in September and October.
World PEAS aggregates the bounty of the season, supplying food grown by over 25 immigrant, refugee, and beginning farmers in eastern MA, to provide families with a weekly box of seasonally available fruit, salad and cooking greens, tomatoes, eggplant, carrots, potatoes and other healthy foods. The World PEAS CSA is a unique, multi-producer model that makes it possible for beginning or small-scale farmers who cannot manage a CSA on their own to participate by growing a select number of crops for the CSA, while providing greater crop diversity and reducing production risk for CSA shareholders.
All shares include a variety of fruits and vegetables, including unique Asian and African crops. Sign up for your small, large, or academic share today! There are three ways to do it:
- Register online at www.worldpeascsa.org
- C-mail worldpeas@comteam.org for paper registration, or
- Call 978-654-5733 for more information.
New Entry provides multi-cultural, beginning farmers with business training, access to land and farm equipment, organic production training and materials, marketing assistance, and continued guidance to start and sustain their farm businesses.
Typical shares of vegetables are available in large (good for a family of 4) and small (good for 2) shares. They even have a coffee CSA featuring Greener Beans, micro-roasted in small batches.
Tufts Pick-up Locations
Medford/Somerville Campus (Both World PEAS and Enterprise Farm)
WHEN: Pickup is from 3pm on Wednesday until 11am on Thursday
WHERE: Office of Sustainability, ground level of Miller Hall (parking lot side, across from Hillel)
Shares will be placed in the glass vestibule outside of the office. However, keep in mind that the vestibule is not air-conditioned, so we strongly recommend that you try to pick up your vegetables by 6 pm on the day of delivery to ensure optimal freshness. We will also Tweet & update our Facebook status when the farm shares are here.
Also, be sure that you are taking the right share (which should be clearly marked with signs). Please do your part to keep the vestibule clean by collapsing your boxes and put them in the appropriate containers.
In case there are delays or changes to delivery times, World PEAS has a Twitter account where they post updates (@NewEntry).
Chinatown/Boston Campus (World PEAS only)
Tuesdays from 3:30-6:30
Jaharis building
150 Harrison Ave
Shares will be kept in the atrium of the back exit near Kris Maguire’s office and the Student Affairs Office on the first floor. Those of you within the Tufts Community will be asked to show a Tufts I.D. Those of you who are not part of the Tufts community will need to sign in at the front security desk. World PEAS has provided security with a list of your names so that you will have access to the building. Members of the Tufts community who have access to the M&V building may be able to access Jaharis after hours.
Click HERE for detailed notes on World PEAS’ pick-up locations (address, time of pick-up, etc.).
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If you haven’t already, like our Facebook page or follow our Twitter feed to receive alerts as soon as the vegetables have been delivered. |
About CSA programs
What is a CSA?CSA stands for Community Supported Agriculture. This means that you buy a share in a farm at the beginning of a season (in our case, the beginning of a semester) and you get produce delivered to you here. When you sign up for a farm share, you will receive an individually packed box of fresh produce, delivered directly to a predetermined location for pickup. Here at Tufts, most farm shares are dropped off at the Office of Sustainability in Miller Hall for the Medford Campus and at the Jaharis Building in the Boston Campus.
If you’re looking for more than just vegetables, there are other types of CSAs such as:
- Cape Ann Fresh Catch – a fish CSA in Massachusetts with drop off points all over, including Cambridge.
- The Houde Family Farm – A meat CSA in St. Johnsbury, VT that produces veal, beef, and pork products and ship to the Boston area.
- Wheat and Berry Farm – the first ever Massachusetts Grain and Bean CSA.
Additionally, there are a variety of farms where you can pick up meats and produce on your own. For more information about CSAs in general, visit http://www.localharvest.org/csa/
Remember, buying local produce is one of the most significant ways to live sustainably. If you support local agriculture and sustainable farming, you are being green every day… at least three times a day!
Additional resources
- Massachuetts Agriculture in the Classroom program is dedicated to providing agriculture education and resources to educators.
- Local farms, markets, CSAs and restaurants across the country.
- Find a market near Tufts during the spring and fall by visiting http://www.massfarmersmarkets.org/ or print out the schedule from Fall 2011. (easy to hang up!)
Past CSA programs
The Office of Sustainability partnered with Enterprise Farm throughout the fall and spring semester of 2012-2013 to offer an “academic” CSA farm share, which is available only to Tufts students, staff and faculty.
The farm share was delivered to the Office of Sustainability at Miller Hall every Wednesday and ran with the academic calendar, with no distribution during Thanksgiving and Spring breaks.
Enterprise Farm
Enterprise Farm has been growing Certified Organic vegetables since 1983! They are unique in that they offer a Year-Round CSA, and this is the second time they have collaborated with the Tufts Office of Sustainability to offer a farm share tailored for the academic calendar. They also offer a regular summer share, which is open to everyone and not limited to Tufts-affiliated staff or students.
- Go to their website and click on “Sign up for a Boston farmshare” on the left hand side.
- For Season, choose “Spring Academic Share (Jan 28-May 4, Tufts & GCC pick-up only”).
- Pick a share size.
- For Pick-up Location and Time, choose “Tufts University Academic Share: Office of Sustainability, Miller Hall basement ~ Wednesday 3pm (TUFTS STUDENTS, FACULTY, and STAFF ONLY)”.
- Do tell them you heard about the CSA from the Tufts Office of Sustainability!
- Pick a payment method.
