Goosefoot Free Veggie Boxes Feed Community

It's Goosefoot Farm's fifth year of growing — starting from one dedicated 100 foot row, to 1.3 acres with two hoop houses. So far this year, they’ve given away over 3,700 pounds of fresh vegetables.

While most of the produce ends up at the Tri-Area Food Bank, a portion of the harvest goes towards 27 CSA boxes for Goosefoot's partners at Jefferson Healthcare and Jefferson County Anti-Racist Fund (JCARF).

Community Supported Agriculture, or CSA, was started as an alternative socioeconomic system where consumers could support farmers at the beginning of the year in exchange for a regular box of produce over the growing season. It’s become a popular model for individuals and families to receive a weekly variety of fresh vegetables, new and familiar.

The Jefferson Healthcare CSA program works similarly to the VegRx program – oncology patients get “prescribed” a share to facilitate their access to fresh, nutritious vegetables.

The Jefferson Anti-Racist Fund CSA is part of their community-supported reparations and mutual aid work, and shares are for Black, Indigenous, and People of Color, regardless of income. JCARF adds other local goods to the veggie shares, including flower bouquets, meat, dairy, bread, herbal remedies and more.

Goosefoot Farm managers Lex, Sam, and Alexa are proud to be one of the contributing farms to JCARF’s CSA program, as well as the only current contributor to the Jefferson Healthcare CSA. These programs have received a lot of positive feedback, with recipients saying they feel healthier and more connected to community. The CSAs can be a less stigmatized approach to free food access, and can reach a different demographic of people than the food bank.

Goosefoot Farm also donates produce to the Recovery Cafe in Port Townsend, which is a drug- and alcohol-free space for people in any stage of addiction recovery.

Located at Finnriver Cidery in Chimacum, Goosefoot Farm operates with a paid staff of seven people during the summer high months, the help of many wonderful volunteers, and the support from countless local organizations and community members.

It's a wonderful mix of a growing mission meeting a growing concern for food security, community health, and racial justice. Our thanks to all who help make this happen!

For more info, contact goosefootfarm.wa@gmail.com.