Wednesday, December 8, 2010
A Bronx Winter Share
Today was the first distribution of the Norwood Food Co-op's Winter Share. As you can see from photo, my family received a bunch of carrots, greens, Jerusalem artichokes (not sure what those are yet but I'm sure you'll tell me or I'll find out in one of our cookbooks) pickles, granola, eggs, onions, shallots and leeks. The winter share is 6 monthly pickups December through May for $310. It's too late to sign up for this season, but early-bird registration has begun for the weekly summer share that starts in June. All the information for both share is at www.norwoodfoodcoop.org.
Labels:
Bronx food,
bronx heath,
Bronx News,
Norwood Food Co-op
15 comments:
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Sure doesn't look like $51 worth of food to me...
ReplyDeleteJordan is the food organic? If it is, it may be worth it, but I agree it's a small amount if eating on a budget. However, I do see the potential to make several soups with the onions, carrots, and leeks. Are those potatos? The granola and the eggs would be good for breakfast.
ReplyDeleteWe were members of the Norwood Food Coop for one season and couldn't justify the expense. It's really not that much food for the money. I can't imagine how people on the median income of Norwood (or even $10K or $20K more) would ever be able to afford being a member. Even though the coop accepts food stamps, it simply does not seem like a wise investment of a person's food budget.
ReplyDeleteBreaking news: eating healthy is extremely expensive. I wonder why that is?
ReplyDeleteWell I'm glad that we can agree that the coop is "extremely expensive." I would like to note that this is a bit incongruous with one of the founders of the coop's comments about a potential Whole Foods being part of the now rotting a vacant Armory. I remember the founder deriding it as "Whole Paycheck" and implying that it was inappropriate for the Bronx because it is expensive and the median income of the Bronx is rather low. Hey Pot, it's the Kettle.
ReplyDeleteNoted! (disclosure: I'm not one of the founders of the coop or a stakeholder in either side of the argument)
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately, enormous fuel, commodity, and real estate subsidies make agribusiness and processed foods a lot cheaper than they truly are, and that's before you account for the costs to our natural resources and our health. So with that in mind, no, it doesn't make sense for impoverished people to either shop at Whole Foods or belong to a boutique organic food cooperative. Fortunately, there are many people in the Bronx who aren't impoverished, although not a lot of them live in the immediate vicinity of the Armory.
But enough about that. I'm sure you are busy angrily protesting the loss of the Bronx's six OTB outlets and their 200 pretty good jobs that were a relative bargain, subsidy-wise/job, to the jobs that would have been created at the armory.
I'm glad we agree that the coop is a "boutique organic food cooperative" and "very expensive." Do a lot of the "many people in the Bronx who aren't impoverished" live in Norwood?
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure what you argument is here, or how the awkward and misplaced reference to the OTB jobs fits.
No, not awkward and misplaced: you are still bitterly railing against the politicians and people who stood in the way of the Armory, so I'm assuming you'll be consistent and bitterly rail against the people and politicians who let OTB go out of business. Jobs are jobs are jobs, etc.
ReplyDeleteAll the food is organic. The quantities may look a little smaller in the photo than in reality. There were, for example, 3 lbs of organic carrots, and 1.5 lbs of greens. Those are onions, and also shallots.
ReplyDeleteI would imagine the prices are comparable to the price of organic produce at the Super Stop and Shop where BD likes to shop, and the whole price goes directly to the farmer, thus supporting a more sustainable model of agriculture and a fairer price for a farmer's labor than agribusiness.
Horse racing and supermarkets are not moral equivalents. In addition, OTB would produce increased tax revenue for the city in the future, nor does it direct tax dollars back to the city that are lost to westchester. This thread is about how the coop is expensive and not worth the cost.
ReplyDelete'Would not' of course...
ReplyDeleteThe Food Co-op is just one option to buy produce. Yes, it's expensive. But buying organic and natural foods, for many political reasons, is still expensive in this country. When I can afford it, I buy expensive stuff, and when I can't, I walk over to the produce market on Bedford Park Blvd. There you can buy things that are fresh and in season for pretty cheap. AND I'm happy to support the family that runs my local market or the family farmer that particpates in a CSA or farmers market.
ReplyDeleteI meant to add that this winter share includes meat, but there was a snafu in the first delivery and not enough meat was provided. It will be made up for.
ReplyDeleteFirst I guess I should out myself as the subject of BoogieDowner's criticism. (What a great feeling!)
ReplyDeleteAs Jordan mentioned, we were supposed to receive half of a local organic free range chicken with this share, but there was a mix-up at the farm.
Also, this is the Winter Share which we recommend only for hard core foodies who really want to keep getting local organic produce directly from a farm even outside of the main growing season in the Northeast. I would agree that eating this way in in the winter is more expensive than in the summer and fall.
More than 75 families participated in our main summer/fall share this year. Our summer CSA is actually one of the least expensive in the NYC region. BD wouldn't know about this because they only did the Winter Share. I would not argue with them if they were only criticizing the winter share, but they seem to be on a mission to disparage the entire CSA operation.
Finally, please do not judge for others what is a "wise investment" in food purchasing. Yes, the CSA model is definitely not for everyone, but some of us put real value on supporting small local organic family farms, and on eating food that we can go see where and how it's grown.
Greg, thanks for your response. I live in the neighborhood, and even though I don't belong to the CSA, I appreciate that it's an option. And I'm excited to learn more about the summer/fall share. I noticed that the website still has information on the winter share. Will it be updated soon? And can you pay in installments before the summer? That would make it more affordable.
ReplyDelete