Comments on: Guide To Local Food in Charlottesville And Abroad

By: -of luck & local food. « the state

-of luck & local food. « the state — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 14:31:48 +0000

[...] cVillain folks talk about the place a bit in this post, but not enought to pop my bubble at having found somewhat of a spectacular secret. i even made [...]

By: cVillain » Blog Archive » Green Scene

cVillain » Blog Archive » Green Scene — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 17:58:36 +0000

[...] things cville is doing to be and not be green. I was surprised to find out they placed the “localvore” trend in the anti-green habits of the city (the cite UVa research…didn’t see [...]

By: Prime picking time…cherries and peaches at local orchards : cvilleSTYLE

Prime picking time…cherries and peaches at local orchards : cvilleSTYLE — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 15:08:08 +0000

[...] has more info here on eating organic and local in [...]

By: Stormy

Stormy — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 19:44:30 +0000

@18. Yes, Brett is the cider guy, although the cider he made for his subscribers last fall fell a bit short of anyone’s standards. Brett’s got good ideas, but April is the businesswoman there, and she seems to have put the organization on better footing overall in terms of promptness, etc. And in this day of spiraling gas prices, having one person do the driving over to the Valley and bringing the goodness back to us in this hippie town.

By: Lys

Lys — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 18:48:45 +0000

@15 & 16: I completley see what you guys are saying. I happen to have had only pleasant dealings with Brett and April, and what I’m looking for is a way for it to be easiest for me to buy local produce regardless of whether or not I use a CSA. In my case, that means not having to get in my car (I can walk to the IX building) and having a weekly share to make me be good about eating veggies (when I go to the market I tend to buy only fruit – I have no disipline!). What truly sealed the deal for me to go with H&B was the raw milk herd share, as I can’t get that from anywhere else. I also like that H&B has both fruits and veggies (and granola and trout and eggs) and that their season tends to be longer. If I needed more than a half share (couples share), I’d probably get a half share from a CSA and half from H&B, but until then I’m satisfied with paying Brett to drive for me.

That being said, if you want to know your farmers, develope that personal relationship and help ensure that a specific farm survives, a CSA is 100% the way to go. For me it was a convenience thing.

By: shenanigans

shenanigans — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 18:07:54 +0000

If Brett’s the guy who used to make all the unpasteurized cider, he was always really nice when he delivered to OXO. Cute too.

By: mc

mc — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 18:03:42 +0000

I like Brett. Limited dealings with him, but he was friendly and helpful to me, his customers and his employees. And I think its worth saying that some farmers LIKE to deal with a middle man for some of their produce so they can focus on the farming and not carting their produce around to every farmer’s market.

other than that, I agree with you guys and your more educated opinions.

By: caroline

caroline — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 17:45:46 +0000

@15 I have to agree with Doof. Sian educated me about the difference between CSA’s and Horse and Buggy some posts back (to lazy to link) anyway, after doing business with H&B I have come to realize that they are the middle man, and quite frankly Brett is rude. He is unorganized, rude to his young staff and customers (often making them wait for long periods of time) misleading on pricing and expensive. I used H&B for two weeks and ran away fast. I choose to go to my local farmers market here in Lynchburg and deal directly with the farmers. It’s been a wonderful experience and so much cheaper than the middle man.

By: doof

doof — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 17:38:07 +0000

@14, Sorry Lys. My infrequent personal interactions with Brett and what I’ve heard from third-persons have led me to believe that he’s a bit of an ass (though I know plenty of people who feel differently, too), and if that impression came through in my tone @12, then.. oops… For the record, I love the idea of CSAs in that they cut out the middle-man and put growers and eaters in direct contact… but Horse and Buggy is the middle-man, albeit on a grass-roots level. If their business was to grow exponentially it would become a grocery store, no? I understand that they’ve taken orders and bought advertising and contracted to supply produce to people, and I think they have a good business, linking local farmers and consumers, and one that is going to grow, but something doesn’t sit quite right with me when they’re referred to as a CSA. They’re a business that doesn’t directly do any more farming than Harris Teeter. More like Consumer Indirectly Supported Agriculture at best.

By: Lys

Lys — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 17:13:45 +0000

@12 yes-ish. They don’t have a farm, but they do buy from farmers, some by auction and some by contract (who they’ve asked to produce enough X,Y or Z for their subscribers), so while it isn’t their farm that has too much kale, it is the farms they purchase from, so it ends up being the same thing. That, or the subscribers would get a half pint of peas instead of a pound of kale, pound of spinach, and two heads of lettuce that we’ve been getting consistently each week, which is just a part of getting what’s in season regardless of whether or not you get it from the farmer or the middle man.

So again, you are correct but your tone seems a bit unfair. It’s not like Brett and April are pocketing the difference (they buy on a weekly $ alotment), they are just providing larger shares of greens each week instead of smaller shares of not yet in season veggies. And these farmers do need to sell their greens to someone, just like a CSA needs to give them to subscribers, so really it is the weather that’s resulted in the kale, not an attempt by Horse and Buggy to cut costs and turn a higher than expected pocket on the kale boom.