A fun thought dawned on me today while I was chatting with the team at our weekly meeting. It has been over 10 since we introduced the Farm Basket at uOttawa... 10 years! Honestly most appliances don't even last that long. I though this might be a good chance to talk about the origins of the program and how we might grow this program (pun intended) for the next decade. Ten years ago, an international student (Coraline) came to intern at our office with the express interest of starting a Community Supported Agricultural program, more commonly known as a CSA. Coraline was quickly able to find a farm that fit all our criteria. We wanted...  A farm that could offer certified organic vegetables That was local and could deliver to the campus Starting a food movement on campus Our three criteria were important to us because we wanted to create a sustainable food system on campus, with one of the focal points being to source organic food. Sure, " the 100 mile diet " was a big cra...

For those who have their own small garden plots, me included, the growing season is just getting started. But I want my fruits and veggies now, because I am spoiled and various other reasons that we don't have to get into. So lucky for me, I am signed up for a CSA (community supported Agriculture) at the University of Ottawa. I've already covered the uOttawa Farm Basket Program in another post but here is a brief summary just in case you missed it. A CSA is at its core a special contract with a farmer. Instead of paying for fruits and vegetables at the market, you pay for them before they are planted and they are delivered to you as they are ready. You share the risk with the farmer, but you also share the savings. This is the third year that the program will operate at uOttawa with the cooperation of Health Promotions and Food Services. The reason we got involved and brought the program on campus was pure convenience. We figured that if we make healthy food easier for ...