Community Resource Center, the Tribal Clinic, and Save-a-Lot grocery store, among several other places, we received feedback from dozens of individuals: those who wanted to participate, sponsor others, and help spread the word about this opportunity. We also submitted an article to the Menominee Tribal Newspaper. The College’s continuing education department developed a needs -based application for potential CSA box recipients (considering income, employment status, number of individuals in the household, etc.) and received over 30 applications. Because of the lack of experience with CSAs in the area, and in collaboration with McDougal’s farm, we hosted an informational session one month prior to the application deadline. All applications were due in early February, at which time personnel associated with the project evaluated the applications and selected the 30 CSA program participants for summer-fall of 2019. Every other week, from June through October, families who participated in the program picked up their produce at one of the two CSA share box drop sites on the reservation: the Woodland Boys and Girls Club or the Tribe’s food distribution center. These sites have refrigeration units where we stored the CSA produce. Each week, participants also received a newsletter from the farm with farm news, events, what to expect in the coming vegetable share, and recipes. This program encourages people to try vegetables that they otherwise may not be drawn to, like bok choy, and to experiment with different recipes. The newsletter gave food storage tips and recipes for eating vegetables. Whether through email, phone, or the CSA Facebook group, CSA members shared recipes and photos of the meals they created. The farm’s website also had an extensive list of recipes. For elders and families without internet access, additional recipes and information were sent out with their CSA shares. The following shows examples of the CSA shares: June sample box (example): 1 lb. bag of lettuce mix, 3/4 lb. snap peas, 1 bunch of radishes, green onions or leek, 1 bunch of beets, 1 lb. of sauté greens or spinach, 1 bunch of rhubarb, 1 kohlrabi, parsley, and 1 bunch of carrots August sample box (example): 2 heads of Romaine lettuce, 4 tomatoes (heirlooms and slicers), 1 pt. cherry tomatoes, 3 onions, 2 bell peppers, 1 lb. green or yellow beans, 2 -3 small zucchinis or summer squash, 3 cucumbers, 1 head of broccoli, and 1 bunch of basil The pilot ran into two obstacles: 1) Some participants weren’t returning their boxes, which were expensive, to the farmers; and 2) Some participan ts weren’t picking up their produce because they didn’t have transportation. We got around the first obstacle by putting produce into inexpensive paper bags that participants could keep. The second obstacle was overcome by giving produce that went unclaimed for two days to the pick-up sites, which were then welcome to use the vegetables in their meals or give them away. We now have a policy that if a participant does not pick up their share for two consecutive weeks, they will lose their sponsorship and will be replaced with another applicant. If the participant is out of town, we encourage a family member or friend to retrieve the participant’s share from the pick -up site. Aside from these challenges, we believe the pilot program was a success.
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