Summer in the South means the pool, camps, long weekends, braves games, and hopefully a little less work for all. But you know who works more and rarely gets to enjoy these summer activities? Our local farmers. We grow a TON of amazing produce in the summer in Georgia which keeps our growers super busy! So here’s the irony: During the summer, we grow more locally, but we as consumers buy less due to the inconsistent lifestyle of the season.
In Fresh Harvest world that means we skip more baskets or simply put our orders on hold for the whole summer. We love offering that convenience and know its so important at times. If we may though, here’s some perspective and a small challenge for your summer 🙂 ….
It is very easy to think a single decision, to skip a basket for example, only impacts us. But if we hope to be a “community of individuals pledging our support to our local growers” (To quote the USDA’s definition of a CSA) then that decision impacts the whole group. Practically speaking, 15% of our customers skip their delivery every week and it increases to 20% during the summer. That translates to several thousand dollars that do NOT go towards Lauren’s heirloom tomatoes or Dave’s blueberries.
So next time you decide NOT to hit the “skip delivery” button, remember that does matter! Maybe you’re busy next week and don’t think you can eat everything – getting a basket would be a risk. Your risk has now become the farmers benefit! That is an act of mutual support.
