Community Supported Agriculture 

Thank you for your interest in East Brook Community Farm’s 2021 CSA! Our CSA members are the foundation of our farm. Member support ensures our viability from season to season, and creates lasting relationships that strengthen our community. In return, we provide our members with weekly or every-other-week shares of abundant vegetables, herbs, and flowers, which we grow with practices that go beyond organic standards. 

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Pandemic permitting, we will also host potlucks, tours, workshops and other events on the farm for our CSA members. Please let us know what you are interested in participating in, and we will see what we can set up!

Starting in 2021, our CSA is based on a sliding scale. When signing up for the CSA, each  member must select:

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1. Their sliding scale tier

2. Their pickup location

3. Their type of share

Please read on below to see options for each!

We recommend reading information about our sliding scale prior to signing up

Starting in 2021, our CSA will be based on a sliding scale

A sliding scale is a payment model that asks CSA members to pay a price for their share that reflects their access to resources. Those who can are asked to pay a bit more for their share, so that members with fewer financial resources can pay a price that is more within their means. It's a form of mutual support between CSA members and farmers that makes sure that affordable, fresh, and nourishing food is accessible to everyone in our community!

We ask each CSA member to reflect on their access to financial resources to determine which of the following price tiers is appropriate for them. We provide some resources below to help guide CSA members toward their appropriate location on the sliding scale, but ultimately, each CSA member determines what price they are wholeheartedly willing and able to pay.

Any CSA member who is unsure what to pay, or who would prefer not to participate in our sliding scale is invited to pay the market rate of $30/week. If you have any questions about our sliding scale not answered on the website, you may email us!

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Our sliding scale is outlined in the table below. If you need additional guidance in finding your appropriate location on the sliding scale, we suggest referring to these living wage calculations from MIT.

However, income alone does not completely reflect one’s financial status. Please also consider the following when deciding what you will pay on the sliding scale.

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Consider paying a bit more for your share if you:

• own the home you live in

• own a second home

• have investments, retirement accounts, or inherited money

• travel recreationally

• have access to family money and resources in times of need

• work part time by choice

• have a relatively high degree of earning power due to level of education (or gender and racial privilege, class background, etc.) even if you are not currently exercising it

Consider paying a bit less for your share if you:

• are supporting children or have other dependents

• have significant debt

• have medical expenses not covered by insurance

• receive public assistance (such as SNAP, TANF or medicaid)

• have immigration-related expenses

• are an elder with limited financial support

• are an unpaid community organizer

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Once you have determined the appropriate rate to pay for your CSA on our sliding scale, continue scrolling down to choose the pickup location and season for your share!

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This sliding scale is intended to be a guide and it invites each of us to take inventory of our financial resources and a deeper look at the privileges we carry. Please use the above guidelines when determining the appropriate price to pay for your share, but in the end, pay what you are wholeheartedly willing and able to pay. Feel free to email us at eastbrookcommunityfarm@gmail.com if you would like help navigating our sliding scale.

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*We would like to express gratitude for all those who have implemented the sliding-scale model before us and inspired others to do so - these include but are not limited to Underground Alchemy, Soul Fire Farm, Little Red Bird Botanicals, and Rock Steady Farm*

 (2) - Choose your pickup location 

All options are available as weekly shares, or every-other-week shares

Flexible Payment Options:

We accept SNAP/EBT and the FVRx Vegetable Prescription Program

In addition to pricing our CSA on a sliding scale, we also accept payment plans, work-trade, SNAP payments and FVRx Market Bucks as ways to make what we grow more accessible. We are committed to growing for everyone in the local community who wants to become a member, and feel that a CSA share cost shouldn’t be prohibitive to anyone who desires healthy, sustainable, local foods. If you are interested in work trade, payment plans, or if there are other ways we can make a share more accessible to you, please contact us! 

Our Invitation for your Non-Financial Contribution

We invite all our CSA members to be involved in the farm beyond just picking up their CSA share! We want to offer CSA members opportunities to connect more deeply with the farm in ways that go beyond their financial support. Your involvement puts the Community in Community Supported Agriculture!

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Ways of getting involved in the farm would typically include attending monthly work parties, and helping organize events like potlucks and workshops for CSA members. Of course, the COVID-19 pandemic has made organizing in-person events on the farm challenging. We are considering how we might safely begin to resume in-person events in 2021. We do anticipate being able to host farm tours for CSA members and other folks in the community, and may be able to host socially distanced work days!

There are also plenty of socially distanced ways to get involved!  These could include working from home on our website, marketing, and other projects.

We're interested in hearing your ideas of how you would like to be involved in the farm, and what skills you are most interested in sharing. We encourage CSA members to contact us with your ideas for events you would like to see us host (in person or virtually) and other ways to get our members involved in the farm!