Henry Got Crops is a local CSA operated under the blanket of the Weaver's Way Co-Op and based out of Saul's campus. The school and CSA are closely linked, despite being obstinately "separate" entities, and the CSA serves as one of the main links between Saul and the community of Roxbourough.
What is a csa?
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"CSA" is short for Community Service Agriculture. The idea behind Community Service Agriculture is to create a mutually beneficial partnership between the farmers and the communities they serve. Essentially, before the growing season begins, community members pay a fee to become "members" of the CSA. The farmers use their fees to finance the plants and supplies they need to produce food for the growing season, and in return, they harvest fresh, local produce weekly for the members to pick up at no additional cost. It's considered a "win-win" for both parties, because the members receive high-quality, fresh produce that has been grown specifically for them and have some input in what the farms grows and how it's structured. On the other hand, the idea of paying up front for a season's harvest is desirable for the farmer, as it eliminates the need to sell their wares weekly to stores or at farmer's market, which can wastes valuable time and energy during their busiest season. Both share the risk and reward of farming - if the farmer loses a crop and or has a bad season, they don't risk financial ruin because they've been paid in advance. Conversely, if the farmer has an excellent year and produces more than expected, the members get more produce without paying extra.
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what is henry got crops? |
Henry Got Crops is the CSA run by Weaver's Way Co-Op on Saul's campus. The CSA is entering it's 7th year and has around 130 members this year, mostly members of the Roxborough community.
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HOW DOES HENRY GOT CROPS WORK WITH SAUL?
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Although Henry Got Crops is on Saul's campus, Saul doesn't own the land they operate on or manage the business end of things. Most employees who work on the farm are employed through Weaver's Way instead of the SDP. However, since Saul is an agricultural school, students will get to know the Henry's Got Crops farm well during their time at the high school. During our interview with Nina Berryman, farm manager at Henry Got Crops, we asked how exactly they involve the students on the farm. She replied, "Our goal is to have the students involved with all the aspects of the farm, and of course there are certain projects that are more student friendly or less student friendly. But we really want them to have a complete picture of seeding, transplanting, harvesting, trellising, pruning, everything from getting food washed and ready for the CSA or even going straight to their own cafeteria [a school contract with SDP was worked out for this two years ago]. They can even fill shifts at the farm stand and learn customer service, like how to use the cash register or other retail skills that complement the growing skills."
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WHAT DO THE STUDENTS GET OUT OF WORKING WITH THE CSA?
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"I think in any of the agricultural classes here, the most important things they learn are the soft skills of teamwork, work ethic, completing a job, following instructions, seeing something through, and that type of thing," Nina says. "And then at a secondary level, no one is going to graduate from here and not know where their food comes from, whether it’s meat or dairy or vegetable, so that’s a huge value as well. And I think also just an appreciation for the type of work that can go into something that’s small scale or organic or done by hand, so that appreciation is another thing that they take home. And then those specific hard skills of how to transplant, how to identify vegetables, how to cook with them, when to know how to harvest, I think those things are something that they take away, but are almost secondary….We can measure our success more so with the first category of soft skills. If they can identify weeds and vegetables after they graduate that’s definitely a mission of ours, but they kind of gotta go hand in hand. If they know one without the other they are not as prepared as they could be and should be for life after graduation."
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HOW DOES THE CSA BRING TOGETHER the two worls of saul?
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Since most of the students at Saul come from neighborhoods other than Roxborough, we asked Nina if working at the CSA serves to strengthen their connection to the local community. She replied,"It’s a great question to ask because you’re right, it’s a magnet school, they come from all of the city…some of the students have crazy commutes, I don’t know how they do it. It’s not a neighborhood school. I think the Saul/Roxborough connection…that gap is greatly bridged by the CSA because it brings the neighborhood in for vegetables, for food, and that makes so many people more aware of what the high school is doing and it gives them an opportunity to meet some students. But I’d say without that, there isn’t a strong neighborhood connection with the school from my perception. A lot of the teachers don’t even live in the neighborhood. I wouldn’t say it’s a bad thing, I wouldn’t say there’s any tension, none of the neighbors are like, “Damn that farm school, it smells bad!” So it’s not that strong but I think the CSA helps…We try to talk a lot about the school with volunteers that come and they see students out in the fields if they come early enough. But I think that’s something that we could always improve on, a stronger connection between those two communities." She mentions one other factor that helps bridge the gap is an annual harvest festival in October. Although it's main function is fundraising, she says another big point of it is just getting the two communities to overlap in the same place in a celebration of this farm. She acknowledges that for the most part the student's home neighborhoods and Roxbourough remain mostly separate, but she believes that the work she does on the CSA and with the harvest festival do bridge the gap somewhat.
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Image: Henry Got Crops! (n.d.). Retrieved July 1, 2015, from http://henrygotcrops.blogspot.com/
All information on this page: Berryman, N. (2015, July 1). Nina CSA [Personal interview].
All information on this page: Berryman, N. (2015, July 1). Nina CSA [Personal interview].