Oakland Organics announces new CSA

One of the delicious results of Baton Rouge’s growing farm-to-table enthusiasm is the presence of more community supported agriculture (CSA) opportunities. CSAs exist all over the country, and provide consumers a weekly share of fresh produce when they pay a fee to the farmer at the beginning of the growing season.

The latest regional farm to experiment with CSAs is one of the few organic growers in the state, Oakland Organics based in Gurley, La., about 40 minutes north of Baton Rouge. I visited this farm a couple of weeks ago, and watched farmer Hutch McClendon and his team of “WWOOFers” (volunteers from World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms) prepare for Oakland’s first CSA memberships, which begin this month.

“Our mission is to ‘improve health one meal at a time,’” said McClendon. “And this is a great way to do it, because you’re getting a week’s worth of organically-grown vegetables every time.”

Oakland Organics plans to provide consumers with four to seven different items a week. During the current season, that might include lettuce, carrots, collard greens, radishes, kale, arugula, spinach, Swiss chard, mustard greens, turnips, romaine lettuce, beets or broccoli, depending on what’s ready for harvest.

The farm’s Winter CSA runs February through April and will be followed by a Spring CSA running May through August. Members can pick up their shares from the Red Stick Farmers Market, where Oakland also has a booth. In addition to enabling a farmer to better plan and expand a farm, CSAs also foster seasonal eating, since what’s in the basket is what’s growing right now.

For more information, e-mail [email protected].