Saturday, October 23, 2010

Victory Acres Farm - Community Supported Agriculture

Have you heard about Victory Acres in Upland, IN?  Our family learned about Victory Acres from a friend and purchased a 1/2 CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) share this past summer.  What a GREAT experience for our family it has been!  We "own" part of this farm share, and from May - Oct get to pick up our 1/2 share of vegetables and fruits out at the farm weekly.  We get to see where our food comes from, our kids get to learn about farms and how food is grown and where it comes from, we get to be part of a great ministry (see below), and we get fabulous locally grown organic produce weekly.  This has definitely been a "win win" for us, and I encourage you to look into the possibility of joining.  As an aside, if you haven't seen Food, Inc. (the movie), I highly recommend it, as it will truly make you look at what you are eating differently (www.foodincmovie.com). 

In addition to produce, you can get cage free eggs, hens for meat, grass fed beef, locally grown honey, etc. 

If you are interested in grass fed beef, Victory Acres is currently accepting applications for purchasing part of a beef share.  For more info and an application, contact Victory Acres (info below).  

Victory Acres Farm
5275 South 800 East
Upland, IN 46989
www.victoryacres.org
email: VACSA@vicm.org
#765-998-2590

Directions to the farm:
Take Exit 59 off of I-69 and head east towards Upland on IN-22.  After about a mile, take a right on S 800 E (there's a True Value hardware store on the corner).  Go past the cemetery and the church and you'll see the farm on the left side of the road (less than a half mile from IN-22).
Below is all taken from the Victory Acres Website:

What is a CSA?

    Community Supported Agriculture or CSA is a unique model of local agriculture whose roots reach back 30 years to Japan, where a group of women were concerned with the use of pesticides. Originally called "teikei" in Japanese, which translates to "putting the farmers' face on food," the concept later moved to Europe. Eventually, in the mid-1930's CSA made its way to the U.S. It is now spreading into the Mid-west. Indiana currently has 16 CSA operations.
       It’s about FRESH, quality, locally grown produce direct from the farmers; from YOUR farm!
       Being part of a CSA is a relationship of mutual support and commitment between local farmers and community members who pay the farmer an annual membership fee to cover the production costs of the farm. In turn, members receive a weekly share of the harvest during the local growing season. This arrangement gives the farmer a direct connection to and relationship with the consumer.
       Ultimately, CSA creates "COMMUNITY-SUPPORTED-AGRICULTURE" where members receive a wide variety of local in-season foods harvested at their peak of ripeness, flavor and vitamin and mineral content.
       In a recent survey of 250 CSA members on the East Coast, the most important reasons for membership in a CSA were support for local farming, quality of produce, environmental and food resource concerns, and knowing the farmer. Victory Acres is providing all of these values. Our customers know us by name, visit the farm where their food is produced, and they approve of our farming practices.
      We grow and produce all our own products

CSA Vegetable Share

      A CSA share involves 20-22 weeks of over 40 certified naturally grown vegetables and a growing assortment of perennial crops. See the FAQ’s sheet for more details. We know that a living and fertile soil makes for nutritionally dense and the best quality and tasting produce. We do all that we can to create such soil conditions: cover crops, compost application, minimum till, crop rotation, and mulching. We also believe this is a responsible use of God’s creation.
      You are our primary concern. We do sell to local restaurants, but you receive first fruits and best fruits. Members and their families are welcome to hike, camp, and picnic on the farm. We are currently working on a trail system. Members are also given first access to our other farm products and future farm products; pastured beef, pastured pigs, poultry, pastured eggs, and other products before non-members and at a reduced rate! 

As a Christian, I am a steward.

As a Christian, I am a steward. Everything that I have has been given to me by God. I will give an account one day for how I use those resources. That includes not just my finances but also my home, my family, my health, and my world. Every aspect of life is part of stewardship.
In light of that, how we live really matters. Health is a large part of our lives. If we are healthy, we are better able to fulfill God’s purposes for us. Many factors affect our health over which we have no control. However, there is one big area that we do control. The old adage, “You are what you eat,” is the truth. Many Christians go to great lengths to avoid alcohol, tobacco, and drugs because of their harmful effects; however, those same people think nothing of consuming large amounts of grossly unhealthy foods – the effect of which are every bit as deadly.
Healthy eating starts with making healthy food choices. Buying more fruits and vegetables translates into eating more of them (and a healthier diet.) If junk food is all you buy, then that’s all you’ll eat. However, many times the people who need healthy foods most find them least available. In our inner-city neighborhood, there are only convenience stores, and without a vehicle or a bus trip, healthy foods are not readily available.
CSA’s are a great way to get access to high quality healthy foods. Because members share in the risk and reward of the farm, they generally get more produce for their money than they would at the grocery store, and they also get a more nutritionally-dense product. With no chemicals killing off all of the “good guys” along with the “bad guys,” the fertility of the ground is fully developed. Healthy ground produces healthy plants, and healthy plants produce healthy fruits and vegetables. By caring for the land that cares for us, we all reap the benefits. Victory Acres CSA delivers certified naturally grown food to our inner city neighborhood, and I am a proud, charter member.
One criticism of many CSA’s nation-wide is that they are for elitists. Most people cannot afford to purchase all of their vegetables for the season at one time, and as a result they are excluded. Victory Acres is different. We have a core belief in sustainability as well as justice. For the third year in a row, quality, naturally-grown fruits and vegetables will be available to our low income neighbors through our “Share a Share” program. Neighbors that could not otherwise afford a membership in our CSA are sponsored through donations from people like you. They will receive produce throughout the year as well as an opportunity to participate in the activities of the farm. Relationships are built, and the food that they receive is a huge blessing.
We have relationships at Victory Inner-city Ministries that mean a lot to us. We don’t just think that “their children” should be eating a can of sodium-laced soup while “our children” are eating healthy, fresh produce from the farm. While we understand that those cans of soup could be life-saving to some, we believe that there is a better way. We are seeking that better way, a way of relationships, a way where we truly love our neighbor as ourselves, and a way that reveals the wisdom of Christ to the world.

1 comment:

  1. Thanks for posting this, Kristi. I hope lots of others will be able to benefit from Victory Acres as well. It has been a blessing to our family.

    Aside from the food, one of the most special parts each week (for my two younger kids) is visiting with the animals. Besides getting to see the chickens and sometimes the cows/pigs, they particularly enjoy snuggling up with the kittens/cats. Each usually finds a kitty as soon as we get there.

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