by: Matthew P. Moll
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Like many college graduates relocating to New York City, Benjamin Shute settled for a time in Williamsburg, Brooklyn and after a career reassessment – left the area and started again elsewhere.
Now his success has brought him back to Williamsburg – but this time only on the weekends, and in a van full of fresh vegetables.
Shute and his business partners run Hearty Roots Farm in Tivoli, N.Y., two and a half hours north of New York City.
What started as an experiment in providing Community Supported Agriculture shares to a handful of friends has expanded to 330 families in three Brooklyn neighborhoods.
“I have never seen this much interest as there is now,” Shute said. “There is more demand now then we could ever hope to fill.”
Shute’s route to farming was not the usual – farm on family farm, inherit family farm. He grew up on the Upper East Side of Manhattan and while he was interested in agricultural issues throughout his time at Amherst College in Massachusetts he didn’t try farming until after he graduated.
His interest took him to Oregon where Shute was first exposed to the physical and intellectual challenges of farming. His farm apprenticeship required him to sample all parts of agricultural life from manual labor to managing accounts with restaurants. With that background, he came to New York to do advocacy work on agricultural issues.
This is when a friend approached him to start Hearty Roots and work with the model of Community Supported Agriculture. The CSA model has helped the farm thrive. Members pay for a share of the harvest in advance of the season, and Shute and his partners deliver the shares weekly.
Shute said that members cite freshness, quality and knowledge of the source of their food as reasons the are drawn to CSA.
Carrie Perry, a CSA member for the last three years, said: “I love the way they are set up. Everything is neat and organized. I love all the colors, the freshness. It is just so good.”
Perry said she cooks for herself, her husband and her one-year-old daughter. The family loves the food, but sometimes they have trouble finishing the generous share.
According to Just Food, a non-profit organization that matches upstate farms and neighborhoods for CSA’s as well as other sustainable eating programs, there are 62 CSA’s in the five boroughs.
Paula Lukats, the CSA coordinator at Just Food, says that part of his job is educating potential members on how the system works.
“Its kind of a weird way of buying food,” Lukats said. “People usually look at me as if to say, ‘You want me to give you money now for what?’ But they find it’s a great deal and what you end up with is delicious and fresh food.”
Convincing new CSA members in historically lower socioeconomic neighborhoods can be a difficult sell especially since most CSAs need a large amount of money to give to the farmer upfront. This money is needed before the season begins so the farmer has a guarantee they will have enough capital to grow for the entire season. Depending on the scale of the operation farmers can need a couple thousand to up to $40,000 to start a season. A CSA share can cost between $250 to $500
“It is always a struggle between wanting high quality food at a reasonable price and paying farmers a living wage,” Lukats said. “The farms need to be up and running which includes paying their workers fair wages there is always a balance.”
For Shute the arrangement benefits him and the savings is passed on to the members, and once they understand the program, expense is less of a factor.
“Price falls lower on reasons why people stay,” Shute said. “Our members know what they get from us is a great deal and a better value and appreciate our model.”
Unlike farmer’s markets, the CSA’s allows the farmer to use all of its produce rather than running out of an item or having too much.
But while the model is efficient, sustainable and economically soluble, Shute is also able to do something he enjoys.
“This is not your typical consumer transaction,” said Shute. “I develop great relationships with my customers and I get to see families and children grow up on our vegetables. “
I know Matt Moll, and Matt Moll knows veggies.