Background image of ecstatic female farmer holding a 5-gallon bucket of flowers frolics across a row of lettuce

BLOG

First-ever CSA Share Fair

A new ritual of spring: renewing our commitment to local farmers at an Ecotrust event at The Redd on Salmon Street

We are incredibly excited to be launching what we hope will be a community event for years to come: the CSA Share Fair, where you can meet, speed date, and fall for a local farmer.

On Saturday, March 21, 10 a.m.-2 p.m., please join us and the Portland Area CSA Coalition at Ecotrust’s new building, The Redd (831 SE Salmon Street). This free, family-friendly event will be bustling with more than 30 farmers, cooking demos, a cookbook swap meet, great food and drink, and more. Learn more about the CSA Share Fair.

At Ecotrust, we are asking ourselves: Why community-supported agriculture? Why does this unique farming model matter? Our Future Economy project, where we test our assumptions about economic models we presume to hold the promise for a better world, shows that CSA farmers are stuck in a bind. The current national policy environment makes it hard for them to make a good living. But, they are among the farmers most dedicated to the environment, and small-scale farmers have outsize benefits on their communities and local economies.

So why should you come on March 21 to the first-ever CSA Share Fair? Here’s what we think.

Good for you, farmers, and our community

Joining a community-supported agriculture program is like growing your family to include the best farmers. They care for you, you care for them, and together you make your home a better place to live. What does that really mean?

1. CSA is the road to better health for you and your family.

Join a farm, and you:

  • Eat ultra-fresh food, with all the flavor and vitamin benefits.
  • Eat more diverse vegetables than ever before.
  • Expand your cooking skills.
  • Build an intimate connection to seasonal eating.
  • Get kids excited about vegetables.
close-up of male farmer smiling broadly while he holds holds a wicker basket overflowing in greens, orange nasturtiums, garlic, and more
Conor Dell of Digging Roots Farm, who will be at the CSA Share Fair.

2. CSA is a powerful tool to support farmers who take care of our soil and water.

Join a farm, and you:

  • Provide farmers with the resources they need to thrive.
  • Build a lifelong connection to a local farmer.
  • Nurture young and women farmers, who frequently learn their skills at CSA farms.

3. CSA makes our community a better place to live.

Join a farm, and you:

  • Invest in healthy soil, clean air, and clean water.
  • Protect local farmland from development.
  • Keep your food dollars in our local economy.
  • Learn what local farmers care about.
beautiful bright box of vegetables
Working Hands Farm is a small organic operation in Hillsboro, Oregon with an active CSA program.

At this event, we are also inviting you inside the place and vision for Ecotrust’s newest project — The Redd on Salmon Street. At The Redd, we plan to link urban and rural communities and our city’s food creativity to the health of soil and water. This campus represents a bridge between where our city is today — with a vibrant food community — and where we want to be — nestled among secure, thriving farmlands with healthy rivers that nurture abundant salmon runs.

We see this campus as a hub for building community around transformative ideas and opportunities. Intimate, mutual, long-term relationships between farmers and eaters, who better understand what local farmers are experiencing and what they care about, is part of the future we are working to build.

Join Us

Saturday, March 21, 10 a.m.-2 p.m.
The Redd, 831 SE Salmon Street
ecotrust.org/event/sharefair/

Join our Facebook event
Tweet like crazy! #csasharefair @ecotrust