Awen Organics is a 25 acre organic farm growing high quality fresh vegetables IN North Pembrokeshire, West Wales
VEG BOXES NOW AVAILABLE!
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COMMUNITY
SUPPORTED
AGRICULTURE
A community supported agriculture model has many benefits to both you as members, to us as farmers and for our local communities as a whole.
Community Supported Agriculture : What is it?
Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) is a contract between farmers and consumers in which the responsibilities, risks and rewards of farming are shared.
In practice this means customers sign up to and commit to a weekly box of fresh vegetables for the duration of the growing season. In addition, customers are invited to come participate in open farm days and the Southern Roots Growers AGM.
BENEFITS FOR YOU AS Members
For customers a Community Supported Agriculture scheme offers simplified access to the best seasonal produce, better prices and a stronger relationship with the land and people that produce your food.
Fresh
We grow all our produce on our field, from seed to harvest.
Almost everything is picked on the day of delivery, so you get the freshest quality produce possible.
Local
We grow everything on the two acre field we rent at Lower Hewood Farm, Hewood.
We reduce food miles by selling our produce ourselves directly to restaurants, cafes, pubs and households in our local communities.
Our produce rarely travels more than ten miles from the field we grow in to our customers kitchens.
Organic
We grow all our vegetables using organic and agroecological farming methods.
Our produce is ecologically and ethically grown with no pesticides or herbicides involved. We are certified organic with the Soil Association.
Cost
We grow all our veg ourselves and we sell it directly to you. Because we sell direct, this means that there is no extra markup on the price as there would be in a shop or a farmers market.
So as farmers we are able to to get a fairer price for our produce and you as customers are able get your veg at a lower price than you would at a market or a shop.
BENEFITS FOR US AS FARMERS
For Farmers a Community Supported Agriculture scheme offers a more predictable and secure income, lower risks and stronger relationships with the people who eat our produce.
We can plan ahead
Customers commitment to a weekly box of vegetables for the whole growing season takes a lot of the speculation and doubt out of vegetable growing and make it much easier for us to plan our growing season. Having a secure and committed group of customers helps us know if we need to grow 1, 10, 100, 1000, or 10 000 beetroot!
We can reduce risks and wastage
With customers up front commitment we don’t need to take risks by planting just the right amount of vegetables. It helps us avoid not having enough, or having too much and not being able to sell everything. Selling direct to customers also means we don’t need to waste produce that is too big, small, or wonky.
We have more financial security
A yearly commitment from customers means not only can we plan ahead, it allows us to make clear budgets for the year. A CSA offers us as farmers a lot more financial security in our business as we know what we need invest to in, how much, and for how long.
We can be part of the local economy
We would much rather grow vegetables for people living in the local area than find distant wholesale markets where we have to sell our produce through middle men at low prices.
BENEFITS FOR THE COMMUNITY
Supports the local economy
Selling our produce in our local communities has much higher economic benefits than if we were to sell further afield. It helps to keep money flowing throughout our local communities, offers employment opportunities and helps keep us as young farmers in the field. Living in a rural community and economy we feel this is all incredibly important.
Fosters stronger relationships
CSA Schemes offers benefits far beyond just a weekly box of seasonal tasty grub!
As a customer of Southern Roots CSA you are invited
to take part in seasonal farm days where we will hold workshops
on all aspects of food growing for all age groups and curiosities
for all our members. Customers are invited to have a stronger
relationship to the farm and where our food is coming from
through these regular open days, BBQ’s, farm walks and
opportunities to help out on the veg patch.
In the autumn we hold an AGM (Annual General Meeting) where all customers are invited to spend an evening with us to discuss the business, hear how the year went and our next steps.
