Project Overview
Annual Reports
Commodities
- Animals: swine
Practices
- Animal Production: grazing - continuous
- Education and Training: farmer to farmer
- Farm Business Management: community-supported agriculture, marketing management, whole farm planning
- Sustainable Communities: new business opportunities
Proposal abstract:
Over a 16-month period, Wil-Den Family Farms, producers of "Fresh Air Pork", and PASA will work together to develop a community supported agriculture (CSA) project for Wil-Den's pastured pork products. The development of the CSA will focus on identifying 50 organizations as potential CSA partners in the western region of Pennsylvania. These organizations will be contacted and asked to host a tasting event and farm presentation. All the organizations contacted will be surveyed and a database will be established with the results. We expect to partner with 20 organizations in the region and give presentations to 500 potential CSA shareholders. These events and presentations will allow potential customers to taste some of Wil-Den's "Fresh Air Pork" and learn more about their farming operation. Participants at the meeting will be asked to signup for the CSA and will be surveyed to determine their preferences for pork cuts, CSA share size, delivery and/or pick-up preferences. After all 20 presentations are completed, we estimate that 100 families will become shareholders and buy an annual $600 share in the farm. Outreach to other farmers will take place at PASA's annual Farming for the Future Conference, field days, website, and newsletter Passages; regional farming publications and papers; the Small Farm Success Project (USDA-IFAFS) website, Rodale Institute's New Farm website; and Pennsylvania annual farm events.
Project objectives from proposal:
Performance target: Of the 50 organizations and 500 customers who learn about the project, 20 organizations will become project partners and 100 families will become shareholders and purchase an annual $600 CSA share.
Milestone 1: Fifty organizations will learn about the project through phone calls, presentations, and newsletters;
Milestone 2: Twenty organizations will agree to host farm presentations and advertise the event to their employees, members, and customers;
Milestone 3: Five hundred people will attend the farm presentations and taste Wil-Den Family Farms’ pork products;
Milestone 4: 100 families will become CSA members and purchase an annual $600 CSA share.