In the farmer’s cooperative world, one plus one equals 50 — one acre, plus one farmer, equals 50 full bellies. When North Shore farmer and mother of three Jillian Seals started growing food organically on Kaua‘i, she began by selling
In the farmer’s cooperative world, one plus one equals 50 — one acre, plus one farmer, equals 50 full bellies.
When North Shore farmer and mother of three Jillian Seals started growing food organically on Kaua‘i, she began by selling her goods at the Sunshine Markets.
“The biggest challenge was driving all over the island wasting fuel and haggling over prices,” she said.
Little did she know then that she was on the threshold of joining a food-growing revolution that has its roots in Asia.
When Seals decided to farm her land for her family plus a handful of neighbors, she stepped across that invisible door jam to join the lineage of women who started an innovative movement — community supported agriculture.
Thirty years ago it began in Japan as an arrangement called “teikei,” which translates as “putting the farmers’ face on food.” A group of women organized to initiate a direct growing and purchasing relationship with farmers. The idea spread to Europe and then in 1985 reached the United States when Jan VanderTuin and Robyn Van En started the first CSA in Massachusetts. In 2005 there were over 1,500 CSA farms in the United States.
“In January 2007 I began feeding five families in our neighborhood,” said Seals.
That number more than tripled in one year when friends and neighbors urged her to grow more. Her husband Gary said she did it with just 4,000 square feet of land.
“Watching Jillian grow food and feed families was like watching an orchestra,” he said. “Then land owners around Kilauea began approaching us saying, ‘I have land I’d like to farm.” That was in June 2007.
“Kaua‘i Farmers’ Co-op is multi-layered,” he explained.
The co-op is the outlet for the produce and the Farm Incubator Program is the teaching element. With the help of Malama Kaua‘i, a Kilauea based non-profit working to raise awareness on the importance of sustainibility, the farm took its next evolution by adding a teaching element.
In January nine apprentice farmers enrolled in the Farm Incubator Program. The first three-months are a volunteer period of hands-on learning, followed by three months as paid staff. Graduates of the program are given access to a 4,000-square-foot plot and offered an outlet for distribution of their produce through the co-op. Presently the Seals’ have 15 acres available in Kilauea for farming.
With a background in permaculture and sustainability engineering, teaching felt like a natural progression for both Gary and Jillian.
“I grow the soil and Jillian grows the food,” Gary Seals said. “And the CSA supports the gardens that are for teaching people.”
The Seals’ follow the signals they receive from the land. “When we need to slow down, nature gives us speed bumps,” said Gary Seals. “And when all the lights go from yellow to green we know to move forward again.”
And moving forward they are. As the farm grows and apprentices graduate to farm plots of their own, the organic produce will spread throughout the island.
“I think in food-miles,” said Jillian Seals. “Can we keep it under 5 miles — 10 miles? Because fewer miles equals food vitality.”
But that doesn’t mean the Westside won’t reap the benefits of the co-op.
The Seals’ have the means to provide fresh produce. If someone can get a committed group of 20 families, there could potentially be a delivery on the South Shore or the Westside if one member made their home the pick-up point.
Presently there are two pick-up locations — one on Wednesdays in Kilauea at the Malama Kaua‘i Resource Center on Kuawa Road (formerly Guava Kai) and one on Saturdays at Hoku Whole Foods in Kapa‘a.
Traditionally CSAs require full payment seasonally to assure the farmer a viable income. KFC offers three options: Pay biannually, every six months; seasonally, in three quarterly installments or month-to-month. A week of fresh produce costs $30, but monthly payment is due in full the last week of the month ($120).
There is an annual $30 member fee and membership is required if you want to receive weekly boxes. The vegetables are seasonal and change with the season. Last week members received the following: two heads of magenta lettuce, arugula, carrots, dandelion greens, fennel bulb, radish, cilantro, parsley, kale, bok choy and Swiss chard.
There’s also a recycle side to the co-op — the boxes vegetables arrive in were collected from local markets and businesses — boxes that otherwise may have wound up in the Kekaha landfill or been shipped off island for processing. By returning the boxes each pick-up day it is not only recycled, it also saves the co-op time and fuel by their not having to scout out more boxes.
Another recycled product is the paper covering the vegetables. Each box is covered with wet newspaper to assure the freshly picked vegetables stay moist. The co-op gets its newspaper from the libraries. One can also return the old newspaper to the farm for recycling.
The composting program is one more opportunity for members to participate in the circular structure of the co-op by tossing food waste in a bucket provided by the farm courtesy of Kilauea Fish Market. Organic kitchen waste returns to the farm’s collective compost. The circle is either closed there by having the compost return to the beds the vegetables are grown in, or after returning the full bucket 10 times, the farm will give back a five gallon bucket of organic compost.
Having been born and raised on a farm Jillian Seals’ philosophy is simple — care for the food from seed to table. Ultimately, her dream is to pass on the knowledge she’s acquired to Kaua‘i youth and high school graduates.
“Here’s an opportunity to stay on Kaua‘i,” she said. Through the Farm Incubator Program, she said, stewards can make $500 a week on one-eleventh of an acre.
To learn more or become a member call 652-5110 or e-mail kauaifarmerscoop@yahoo.com.
What produce might be in your box in March?
Beets, mixed greens, head lettuce, arugula, carrots, dandelion greens, fennel bulb, radish, cilantro, parsley, kale, bok choy and Swiss chard. Selection changes with the season. To learn more or become a member call 652-5110 or e-mail kauaifarmerscoop@yahoo.com.
Why Is Community Supported
Agriculture Important?
• CSA direct marketing gives farmers and growers the fairest return on their products.
• CSA keeps food dollars in the local community and contributes to the maintenance and establishment of regional food production.
• CSA encourages communication and cooperation among farmers.
• With a “guaranteed market” for their produce, farmers can invest their time in doing the best job they can rather than looking for buyers.
• CSA supports the biodiversity of a given area and the diversity of agriculture through the preservation of small farms producing a wide variety of crops.
• CSA creates opportunity for dialogue between farmers and consumers.
• CSA creates a sense of social responsibility and stewardship of local land.
• CSA puts “the farmers face on food” and increases understanding of how, where and by whom our food is grown.
(List excerpted from localharvest.com. Special thanks to the contributors to this description of CSA: Robyn Van En, CSA of North America (CSANA); Liz Manes, Colorado State University Cooperative Extension; and Cathy Roth, UMass Extension Agroecology Program.)
• Pam Woolway, lifestyle writer, can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 257) or pwoolway@kauaipubco.com.
