Published: January 12, 2009 02:52 pm      

Community Supported Agriculture takes hold in Live Oak

Another source for local, organically grown food

Guests will have another reason to stay at Camp Weed and the Cerveny Conference Center. Fresh, organically grown vegetables will be grown on site and served up in the kitchen.

The vegetables will be provided as part of a partnership between Camp Weed and Magnolia Farms. Officials at Camp Weed are allowing Magnolia Farms to use a portion of their land to produce naturally grown produce, and in return Camp Weed will purchase the vegetables at a discount.

Joe Chamberlain, executive director of Camp Weed, said he got the idea for the partnership while on a trip to Oklahoma.

"I picked up the magazine in the airplane and I'm reading about a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture)," Chamberlain said. "That's where people in big cities pay a farmer in a rural area to grow their fresh, organic vegetables."

He went home with the idea and contacted Magnolia Farms.

But the CSA program is not just about shipping produce out to other areas, said Darlene McElwee, who owns Magnolia Farms, along with her husband, Michael. It's a program that local folks can take advantage of, too.

Members of the CSA program can order food through the farm or grow it on their own land. There's also a program for low-income families, who can help work the farm for food at reduced costs.

"This area is starved for organic food," McElwee said.

McElwee said naturally grown foods provide healthful meals and promote food safety.

"They are very strong in nutrients," McElwee said. "People don't know what chemicals were used on their food; here they know what they're eating."

She said growing food locally also has economic benefits, since there's no shipping and fuel costs.

"It keeps the money here in Suwannee County and in turn it's going to taste 100 miles fresher," she said.

Magnolia Farms has been a Community Supported Agriculture farm for about four years, and McElwee said as far as she knows it's the only one of its kind in North Florida. The farm offers various organic and naturally grown produce, as well as goat dairy products, farm fresh eggs and grassfed turkey and chicken.

For Camp Weed the partnership is a tasty deal.

"(The vegetables) have been fantastic," Chamberlain said, adding they taste better than regular produce.

Numerous churches and other groups and organizations visit Camp Weed throughout the year. The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission stayed there for a conference.

"Our guests have had organic vegetables and organic salads items all week long," Chamberlain said.

"I was overwhelmed by (Chamberlain's) generosity and support for the Community Supported Agriculture program," McElwee said.

"It's a responsible use of our land to benefit our people -- our guests and visitors here and the people of the Episcopal churches in North Florida and Magnolia Farms," Chamberlain said.