Community Supported Agriculture & Community Garden Collaboration Michael J. Herzing Tiffany R. Gausman Christina G. McClelland Denise M. Michalowski Good Afternoon, Our groups project is the Community Supported Agriculture & Community Garden Collaboration. Our group included myself, Tiffany Gausman, Michael Herzing, Christina McClelland and Denise Michalowski

At our first group meeting we decided to come up with a name to help with marketing our projects to the public. Headwaters Charitable Trust had funds set aside to get our logo branded for our group. This has been an advantage for our group to be able to use. We came up with Back to our Roots-to remind public to get back to ones roots. To connect with their community, family, and work. We want the public to be involved in supporting the community and creating growth. With our agriculture projects we want people to learn the old traditions and behaviors of their ancestors of growing their own produce and buying local produce from local farmers.

After establishing our group name, we completed a SWOT analysis to help us understand what our expectations were. This included strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats for our two projects. We spent the next month or so researching information about Community Supported Agricultures and Community Gardens. We created brochures for the community to learn what a CSA is and what a community garden is. We also created a separated brochure for the farmers to read to learn more about CSA’s and what our goals are for creating one in our community. You should all have samples of all 3 brochures to look at.

Mission Statement Our mission is to unite local farmers and community members by facilitating a grassroots approach and providing a sustainable, supportive agricultural network. Our goal is to improve health, education, and economic opportunities in the PA Wilds. We worked together and came up with our groups mission statement. >Read Slide> This is beneficial for the public to understand what our mission is now and going forward.

Local’ Motion Throughout the project we worked with several organizations. Headwaters Charitable Trust was the main organization on working with us to get a CSA started in the community. Local Motion was the main organization on getting community gardens going in Elk County. Pennsylvania Wilds has allowed us to use their logo for marketing our projects which is a plus. Americorps and United Way have also contributed to our projects.

Community Supported Agriculture A Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) is a relationship between you and a local, family farm. The farmer delivers a variety of fresh, nutritious food to convenient locations in your neighborhood and has pick up hours throughout the week. Read slide A CSA’s great benefit is decreasing the travel miles of produce from the farm to the family. Currently most produce goes from farm>transporting by plane or boat>to delivery truck>to the supermarket>to your family. A CSA goes from a local farm to directly to your family.

Benefits of CSA Crops are picked at the peak of freshness Produce contains more nutrients Food supply is safer Enhances health of residents Improves the local economy Builds a strong community Builds relationships with the farmers Learn about new produce Creates jobs and opportunities Reduces local taxes Benefits the environment and wildlife Supports the future of farming   No use of harmful herbicides, pesticides, or fertilizers Fresh produce that is not contaminated

These 3 pictures have interesting facts that help support our mission. Read the 3

Sligo Farm March 24th

May 4th Farmers Meeting Mark Printz Canticle Farms Allegany,NY On May 4th, we help a Farmers meeting at the St. Marys Public Library. We invited Mark Printz who is the Farm Manager of CSA that has been in operation since 1998. He is extremely informative and passionate towards his career. Prior to the meeting, we sent brochures and letters to local farmers. After the farmers received the letters, we contacted them to join the meeting with questions and concerns. We had 6 local farmers attend and others that were interested but couldn’t attend. Overall, the meeting went very well with Mark to answer questions and concerns. Mark Printz Canticle Farms Allegany,NY

Elk County CSA Outcome Educated local Farmers Headwaters has developed a plan to promote the local farmers markets with the intention of building a CSA with the farmers Interest from farmers and citizens Moving forward we plan to continue to work with farmers and citizens on building the CSA

Elk County Community Garden Collaborative #1 Voted Topic from Stackpole Hall Study with Headwaters Charitable Trust Community gardens make plots available to individuals, families, and groups for growing food, flowers, and herbs. Community gardeners use food to feed their families and share with neighbors, or others in need. Get Rooted In Our Community In

Benefits of Community Garden Helps improve air and soil quality Increases biodiversity of plants and animals Reduces “food miles” that are required to transport nutritious foods Teaches younger generations Builds community while you work together with your fellow gardeners Improves food security Improves dietary habits through education Improves mental health Learn about gardening and the earth Eating locally grown organic vegetables reduces seasonal allergies and asthma because individuals are exposed to the pollen from their area Healthy Living Starts with Healthy Eating!

Community Garden Donations Donations from PFL, CMF, St. Marys Legion, New Horizon Store and Customer Tips, United Way Grant Seeds were donated from seed company and plants from local school All About Trees donated wood chips Total over $2,700 Donations went towards community garden construction, outreach and materials.

Community Garden Work Day May 21st Before After

Community Garden Outcome Passed out flyers throughout the county Contacted companies and local establishments for donations Created a Facebook page (Back to Our Roots) ***PLEASE LIKE AND SHARE**** Work Days Grace Episcopal Church- May 21st St. Marys Methodist Church- June 17th 4-7 pm & June 18th 10am -2 pm Queen of the World- TBD

Non-profit Organization Facebook Page Non-profit Organization

Unexpected Outcomes The number of farmer participants was higher than expected Local farmer participated in the Sligo CSA tour Citizens in the community are very interested and want to learn more The number of donations The amount of networking that was established 3 definite locations this year and potentially more in the future

Questions?

Thank you Don’t forget to visit your local Farmers Market this Summer/Fall!!!! Don’t forget to like and share our Facebook page!!!!!