Healthy and Homegrown

Everyone wants to know that the food they eat is healthy and safe.  One way to be assured of this is to know who grows your food and where it is grown.  In recent years there has been an increasing desire nationwide to eat food that is grown locally as much as possible, i.e. the “locavore” movement.  This desire has given rise to Community Supported Agriculture (CSA), a partnership between the food producers and the local community.  Members of the community pre-pay for a subscription to a share of produce for a certain number of weeks from a farmer who in turn ensures they receive their weekly portion.  This allows the farmer and the subscribers to share in the benefits and risks of local food production. 

Three years ago the Andrews University Student Gardens began a CSA program and has been delivering vegetables and fruits grown by the students to its subscribers.  Due to the success of this program, it is being expanded this year to include some low-income families in Benton Harbor in collaboration with the Berrien County Health Department, Be Healthy Berrien Coalition, and Lakeland Regional Health System.  Although Berrien County grows a considerable amount of fruit and vegetables, the vast majority of it is shipped to other markets.  This results in many areas of our county classified by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) as “food deserts”, i.e. urban neighborhoods and rural towns without ready access to fresh produce due to low income and unreliable transportation. The intent of the expanded CSA program is to encourage healthy eating in a population that is often plagued with diseases that result from poor diets.  Dieticians from Lakeland Hospital are giving classes on how to prepare the fresh foods that the Andrews students grow.

by Katherine Koudele, Andrews Department of Agriculture