Local Organic Produce 30% Off!

I had to travel to Gainesville this week to take part in an annual poinsettia variety trial at UF.  This was my first time at the event and it was pretty cool to see all the latest and greatest poinsettias.  This is a trial for commercial growers so they can compare growth and colors to what they are currently growing.  After a while of comparing colors my eyes started to wig out from all the bright reds and I had to look at something different.  I did see something I thought was a very new and interesting variety.  This was just out so you can say you heard it here.  They are breeding for a yellow-orange-squash colored poinsettia plant that they are hoping will pick up some Thanksgiving sales for the poinsettia market.  That is my insider tidbit for poinsettia aficionados.
On the way home I stopped in at a local supermarket to get a drink for the ride.  I decided to check out the produce section just to see what they had in the way of organics as I normally don't do the food shopping for the family.  Then I thought since I was there that I would compare what our share of produce would add up to with what our members have paid.  I did this last year and remembered that the week I checked was comparable to the store value.  This time our members are doing really great.  So the process was, I added everything in the share item by item that I could find that was organic, and when they didn't have it as organic, I added in the conventional items for the total price.  I did my best to add price per ounce compared to what we distributed or price per item depending upon how it was being sold.  I was able to find about 65% of our farm share in the organic section.  The other 40% was not available so I used conventional prices to complete the share.  I wound up with a bill of approximately $31.00 for what our members paid $22.50 for.  A remarkable savings of about 27%.  If you throw in the eggs then we are about 30%.   It would probably be higher still if I could find all of it in the organic section.  The awesome thing about buying from our farm is not only are you getting organically grown (except in a few rare occasions) produce at a discount, but all of it is locally produced (under 20 miles for all members), and for the most part, picked hours to minutes before you take them home.  So, quality is higher (better for your family's health), fossil fuels and energy to ship and maintain the produce are dramatically less (so you are helping the environment), and you are improving the economic conditions of your neighborhood by keeping the money local.  I am very thankful that we have members that are making a decision to improve on a way to purchase produce.  I am also thrilled that I can help the social, economic, and environmental factors of my surroundings by growing produce for our community supporters.  This is a real tangible way we are all supporting one another.  Maybe we should call it Community Supporting Agriculture!