Q: What kind of person participates in a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) program?
A: Usually the type of person that participates in a CSA program is one who is adventurous and willing to try different foods, eats freshly & seasonally, enjoys cooking meals from scratch as opposed to prepared meals, and wants to purchase their foodstuffs locally from a farm that uses sustainable farming methods. As the produce contained within the baskets is freshly picked from the fields using no or low spraying methods, it is crucial that upon receipt of your basket you set aside time to wash, and properly store the produce to prevent spoiling. We do provide tips and tricks for storage, as well as a ton of great recipes to explore and try our great produce, right on this website!
Q: How much will I receive in a share? Am I better suited for a single or double share?
A: Our shares come in either single or double sizes. A single share (1/2 bushel or 18L) is geared toward families with young children or two adults. A double share (1 bushel or 36L) is geared toward families with growing children, or two vegetarians.
Q: How many weeks is the CSA Share program?
A: 23 Weeks. June 2010 to November 2010
Q: What will be in my share boxes?
A: Generally speaking there are 5 items per week contained within the boxes. As we progress through the 23 weeks this can change - there are more items when growing season is in full swing with produce such as lettuce, green onions, asparagus and spinach, and moving toward root/storage vegetables as the growing season tapers off.
Please refer to our growing chart to see what produce is available when!
Q: Why did the prices increase this year from previous years?
A: We have had two significant cost increases over the past 3 years. Minimum wage (for our Mexican migrant workers) has gone up to $10.25/hr. In 2007 the minimum wage was $8/hr so that is a huge increase that we never put forward to our customers in the three years we've had the CSA program.
The other large increase we've experienced is our Integrated Pest Management (IPM) reporting system. This is the company that comes in and scouts our crops to help us with our reduced use of control products. Unfortunately the cost doubled last year, and again we absorbed the cost by not passing it on to our customers. Of course these are not all the cost increases, but these two costs are significant, in two areas that are focal points in our operation, and we have no control over.
Lastly, over the past few years our province has ensured that farms are being downloaded on, with more fees, red tape, and time consuming paperwork that unfortunately makes Ontario the most costly province to grow fruit and vegetables in Canada. This price increase does not cover all our cost increases, we have to be more efficient at growing and marketing our crop, and we will do that!
Our goal of sustainability, looking after the land, water and environment, also has to include income sustainability. We cannot be here long term if our family does not make some income.
Q: Can I change my basket items if I am on delivery?
A: No. We apologize, but changing items contained in the basket may only be done at the Farm Store located on the farm (266 Ashworth Road, Zephyr, ON)
Q: What are your hours of operation?
A: Wednesday - Saturday 10am to 7pm // Sundays 10am to 5pm
Q: Is there tax on top of the price of my share?
A: No. There is no tax on fresh food products and the prices listed are the price for the full season.
Q: Is Cooper's CSA Farm & Maze an organic farm?
A: We are not certified organic. In order to minimize the need for spraying, we employ an IPM System for all our crops. (Integrated Pest Management is where plants are sown next to each other because they naturally repel each other's predators). We have a field scout who checks our crops twice weekly throughout the season to alert us to any problems or issues that we need to attend to. The only time we would put any chemicals on our crops is if they were at risk of loss or serious damage.
We use a lot of manual tillage (hoes and rakes), and Steve is very current with all types of 'organically registered' fertilizers and sprays. He is also versed on the ones that are certified organic in the UK. (as we all know they are so far ahead of us in this area)
We call many of our products 'chemical free', as they never receive any extra products on them; just the seed, soil, sun, air, and water. We have a 13 & 14 year old, who are often in the fields picking and eating as things grow. Naturally we are concerned for their health and safety, and would not want anything on the crops that could hurt them. As well, since Steve is primarily out in the fields, he doesn't want to be using anything on a regular basis that could cause long-term health problems for himself either. So while we are minding the health and well being of our family, we're also minding the health and well being of yours too! We grow ethically, sustainably, and smart! Please click on this link to learn more about our farming methods.
Q: I have a few questions about your CSA. Regarding the poultry and beef/pork – do you use any antibiotics or hormones in the feed or given directly to the animals? Do you put antibiotics in the manure for fertilizing? Your website states that you use minimal or no pesticides and some produce has none, which would those be, the majority or a minority?
A: No hormones or antibiotics in feed or given directly. If an animal gets sick..it does happen once and a while we treat the individual, separate it from the group and then once healthy sell it at the local auction. Our customers never get treated animals. As well, nothing is added to our manure.
Pesticide use. We use an Integrated Pest Management system or IPM. What that means is we routinely check (twice weekly) for pest and diseases, chart and monitor levels of such things and then make control decisions if thresholds are met. We use an outside company to scout crops so we have a different set eyes monitoring and giving us our reports twice weekly. By controlling pests based on how many are actually there, and knowing what stage they are in for precise timing, we have reduced pesticide use by 85% on our farm. Conventional farms will spray most crops 6 -12 times. We rarely go more than twice. It's still not zero pesticide use; there are too many thing we can't control. Many diseases and pests come in on the wind or the jet stream. Some years we get them, some years we don't. That's why we monitor to know what's there and when to control it if needed. We are not willing to lose an entire crop that we have invested so much in to. We do not use the word "organic". Organic does not mean pesticide free, there are many organic pesticides available to farmers and they are still very toxic poisons. We use much less than many organic farms because of the time and effort we put into our IPM.
In terms of spraying, it varies according to the specific crops and the pests that attack them - every year is different. Generally all the greens, beets, carrots, herbs, chard, parsnip and carrots come through with out anything. This year the cucurbit family crops are staying clean (that's a first!). Potatoes and tomatoes are hit-and-miss depending on the year and the subsequent climactic and pests that year brings. Crops that generally get control products the most are strawberries (nobody likes mouldy fruit) and corn and the brassica family of crops (don't know why people won't eat things with worms crawling all over it..can't we share?!).
