Love Fed 2020 CSA

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, for the summer of 2020, we started a CSA (Community-Supported Agriculture) program for our neighbors to share the fresh fruits, vegetables, and herbs grown in our community garden spaces. Due to our commitment to prioritizing folks most affected by the COVID-19 pandemic and food apartheid in New Haven, CSA shares and financial support to cover the weekly payment went first to those families identified by our team in reference to the information provided. By participating in this campaign, folx joined the movement to mobilize for community care and combatting food apartheid in New Haven.

CSA is Rooted in Black History

Booker T. Whatley was a pioneer of sustainable agriculture and a passionate advocate for what he called "smaller and smarter" farming. Growing up on a farm in Anniston, Alabama in the 1920s, Whatley watched firsthand as the number of Black farms began to decline and family farms struggled to compete with the industrialization of agriculture. After serving in the Korean War by managing a hydroponic farm to feed the troops, he pursued a doctorate in horticulture and became a professor at Tuskegee University. He strongly believed in regenerating farmer livelihoods through direct marketing methods such as Pick Your Own farms and what he called "Clientele Membership Clubs," the predecessor to modern-day CSA (Community Supported Agriculture). Learn more here.