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Male: Today, we are at Upper Meadow’s farm in Monty’s, New Jersey speaking with owner operator Leonard Pollara. Let us go to give us his take and what it means to operate a sustainable farm.
Female: Thank you for having us here.
Leonard: My pleasure.
Female: So, can you start by telling us a little bit about your farm and how long it is been here?
Leonard: Well, it is – there is never a short story about a farm but my wife and I moved here in 1987. At one point in time 1945 to 1956, my father had farmed this farm. My childhood dream had been to buy back the pieces of what my father had farmed and farm it and so I have been doing that. So, our total farm comprises a 153 acres today, as our CSA has developed over the pass 6 years this being the seventh year. Now, I actually have in addition to myself, those are the geese saying hi.
Female: Hi geese.
Leonard: Yes they are just bossy.
Female: They wanted to get on camera.
Leonard: So, in addition to myself, I have two full-time workers and three part-timers who come and help with harvest and planting and other things and I have a volunteer part-time help in the office, which is really crucial.
Male: Do you mind if we all sit down. We will continue our conversation a little bit?
Leonard: Only if you let me change my shirt.
CSA stands for community supported agriculture. The fundamental premise is that the farmer, the person who actually grows the food has a direct relationship with the people who eat the food. The food community, the group at large having an opportunity to have input into the types of vegetables that are grown and the varieties of vegetables that are grown, because they have direct feedback to the grower. Producer to consumer and in consumer I do not mean just somebody who buys it, I mean the person who consumes it, the guy who eats it.
For as many CSAs as I am aware of, each one has a slightly different character. Each one has a slightly different protocol of how they function.
Male: Is there somebody who is kind of been with you from the beginning. I mean can you give us kind of example of the type of relationship that you may have with somebody?
Leonard: Well, we have some people who are chefs, personal chefs, we have one of our location coordinators is an executive chef. We have folks who were involved in nutrition. We have folks who were involved in different aspects of health.
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Male: When we return, we will share some tips for finding a CSA and later, Coney digs in the composite.
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