NY Business Brings Produce From Farm to Boardroom

NY Business Brings Produce From Farm to Boardroom

GOSHEN, NEW YORK—

The produce of the family farm is coming to New York City office buildings. And, that has become possible through Community Supported Agriculture, or CSA.

A CSA is a program in which consumers pay a farmer ahead of time for automatic delivery of fresh, nutritious¹ vegetables and fruit during the growing season. Farmers have expanded CSA programs to New York City lawyers, including the international law firm Winston and Strawn.

The 40-hectare Glebocki vegetable farm in this town some 96 kilometers from New York City has been a family business since 1894. Its current owner, John Glebocki, is an enterprising young man who has kept the farm going and growing by expanding his CSA program to a variety of businesses with direct delivery to their offices.

According to Glebocki, the idea is not new.

“CSA has been around for a while," he said. "We’ve adapted it and actually take it to places of business, much like the Winston and Strawn law firm, and bring the shares of food almost literally² to their desks.”

Winston and Stawn has 24 customers purchasing the fresh food program at a cost of $525 a share for 22 weeks of food delivery.

“What’s good about it as a grower is to have payment for product up front. It gives you something to work with to pay for seed and so forth³. But, it also gives you a known sale.” Glebocki said. "It gives you a guarantee. You know what you can move, and you know what you get for it. The price is set and there is more stability in that.”

Vegetables in season

The variety of vegetables that are delivered is considerable. 

“We will go in the course of our 22-week program and we’ll go through over a hundred different types of vegetables," Glebocki said. "Many different types of root vegetables, different types of greens, season items like tomatoes and sweet corn.”

“We get into the fall, a lot of those squashes, all different types of cooking greens, salad greens, rooting herbs. It’s a pretty large spectrum,” he added.

Each share usually receives up to eight different vegetables each week.

Glebocki says the biggest attraction to the shareholder⁴ is that “they are getting stuff that is at its peak when things are supposed to be ready and actually seasonal⁵. “

The Glebocki Farms delivery truck is loaded at the farm every Thursday afternoon and evening and makes its way to New York City at around 5 o’clock Friday morning, arriving around 8 a.m. for delivery.

Postive reaction at law firm

Martina Owens, director of administration for Winston and Strawn, got the blessing⁶ of the partners of the firm to go ahead with the program and then began the task of signing up prospective⁷ shareholders⁸.

"I thought it was just a great way to not only support local farmers but offer our employees the ability to pick up fresh and healthy vegetables at the office,” she told VOA.

“One of my biggest initiatives here is to bring people together in the office. And this has done that 100 percent," Owens added. "We have people sharing recipes. It brings together our partners, our associates, our staff coming to pick up the vegetables, so it’s been really a good positive sharing experience. “

Owens said that she hopes to expand the CSA program to fruit growers as well.

Reaction from Winston and Strawn staff has been universally positive.

Renee Zimmerman thinks everyone should join.

“It’s a great way to keep our farmers in business so that we insure we continue to get fresh produce," she said.

“It’s nice to get this fresh produce every Friday. I don’t have to run to the grocery store; it’s really convenient for me," said Victor Barnett, a company recruiter.

And one of the young lawyers, Mikaela Evans-Aziz is most enthusiastic about the program.

“We love it. It’s the only fresh food we get in our diet. We have such crazy hours, we look forward to this every week,” she said.

Keeping the family farm in business

And, it's farmer John Glebocki who says, “The importance of the program is as a buffer⁹ to economic uncertainties¹⁰ of agriculture.”

This stability in many ways can keep a family farm in business.

1 nutritious   

adj.有营养的，营养价值高的

参考例句：

• Fresh vegetables are very nutritious.新鲜蔬菜富于营养。
• Hummingbirds have discovered that nectar and pollen are very nutritious.蜂鸟发现花蜜和花粉是很有营养的。

2 literally   

adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实

参考例句：

• He translated the passage literally.他逐字逐句地翻译这段文字。
• Sometimes she would not sit down till she was literally faint.有时候，她不走到真正要昏厥了，决不肯坐下来。

3 forth   

adv.向前；向外，往外

参考例句：

• The wind moved the trees gently back and forth.风吹得树轻轻地来回摇晃。
• He gave forth a series of works in rapid succession.他很快连续发表了一系列的作品。

4 shareholder   

n.股东，股票持有人

参考例句：

• The account department have prepare a financial statement for the shareholder.财务部为股东准备了一份财务报表。
• A shareholder may transfer his shares in accordance with the law.股东持有的股份可以依法转让。

5 seasonal   

adj.季节的，季节性的

参考例句：

• The town relies on the seasonal tourist industry for jobs.这个城镇依靠季节性旅游业提供就业机会。
• The hors d'oeuvre is seasonal vegetables.餐前小吃是应时蔬菜。

6 blessing   

n.祈神赐福；祷告；祝福，祝愿

参考例句：

• The blessing was said in Hebrew.祷告用了希伯来语。
• A double blessing has descended upon the house.双喜临门。

7 prospective   

adj.预期的，未来的，前瞻性的

参考例句：

• The story should act as a warning to other prospective buyers.这篇报道应该对其他潜在的购买者起到警示作用。
• They have all these great activities for prospective freshmen.这会举办各种各样的活动来招待未来的新人。

8 shareholders   

n.股东( shareholder的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The meeting was attended by 90% of shareholders. 90%的股东出席了会议。
• the company's fiduciary duty to its shareholders 公司对股东负有的受托责任

9 buffer   

n.起缓冲作用的人(或物)，缓冲器；vt.缓冲

参考例句：

• A little money can be a useful buffer in time of need.在急需时，很少一点钱就能解燃眉之急。
• Romantic love will buffer you against life's hardships.浪漫的爱会减轻生活的艰辛。

10 uncertainties   

无把握( uncertainty的名词复数 )； 不确定； 变化不定； 无把握、不确定的事物

参考例句：

• One of the uncertainties of military duty is that you never know when you might suddenly get posted away. 任军职不稳定的因素之一是你永远不知道什么时候会突然被派往它处。
• Uncertainties affecting peace and development are on the rise. 影响和平与发展的不确定因素在增加。 来自汉英非文学 - 十六大报告