The People’s Republic of Delicious Foods (PRDF) is engaging in a Community Supported style Agricultural farm project for the 2012 growing season. Community Supported Agriculture, or CSA, is an opportunity for you to be more involved with your food source. In many cases CSA can help answer those Who, What, Where, When and Why questions about our food and how it is produced. It is a chance to participate in a local economy, where every dollar put in is accountable and traceable. With CSA you are buying a true share of the farm, an equal portion of what is harvested. Along with the bounty that can be grown also comes a risk of failure, both are central to agricultural production and both are distributed to all members. CSA can also be a great way to meet other people who share some of the same concerns or interests.
So what is PRDF? We are a limited run CSA farm project that is focused on growing various meat products for 2012. It is a partnership with Jordan Dawdy, John Doubek, and the Martz Farm in Columbia, Missouri. Jordan and John have run other very successful CSA projects and the Martz Farm has been selling grass fed lamb and beef at the Boone County farmers’ market for many years. PRDF consists of the two lead farmers, John and Jordan, and three farm aids, and 50 shareholders of the project divided equally. We are a small group of people who believe in giving respect and dignity to those animals that we consume. PRDF understands our unique position and hopes to make changes beyond the project and into the future.
The CSA begins with raising our broiler (meat) chickens and rearing our piglets. Right before the chickens go to the processor we’ll start growing our turkeys. All of our poultry live in moveable pens protected by a solar powered electric fence. Each pen has a large hut for the poultry to eat or roost in. Our hogs are raised in a rather large area with differing land types, trees, wallowing area, and pasture. All of our animals are fed a grain ration free of additives or antibiotics, and are supplemented with fresh produce from time to time. In addition to the above we will also purchase sheep and beef from the Martz Farm to be processed at a local facility. All of this is distributed equally to our shareholders, in excess or deficit.
PRDF will also host events to encourage members to become more active with their food source, and each other. We will have a kick-off event so that we understand the project. We’ll also hold two events focused on learning. The first will be about animal agriculture,the biological and social aspects. At another event we’ll have a professional chef teach us ways to cook our shares. We’ll also give thanks to the Martz Farm by chipping in one day on a farm chore. In the end we’ll wrap up the CSA with a potluck so that we talk about our experience. In addition to these events we encourage members to bring their families any Saturday or Sunday.
