Business & Tech

Love Fresh Organic Produce? The Woodbridge CSA is for You!

A CSA - Community Supported Agriculture - is the brainchild of Carolyn Meeker, a Sewaren woman who is looking for other lovers of fresh fruits and veggies.


When it comes to farm fresh produce, you can never have too much. And when it comes to not having to drive far to get it, well, Carolyn Meeker knows exactly what that's all about.

The sourcing director for a candle manufacturer has joined two different Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) groups past two years, trying to bring her family the freshest fruits and veggies she can find.

But driving to Westfield, then Metuchen, the home of the two CSAs she belong to, every week for 20 or more weeks during the growing season was just too much of a hassle. 

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Now she wants to bring a CSA to Woodbridge.

But what exactly is community supported agriculture?

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From Meeker's website, set up to entice Woodbridge veggie lovers into joining her co-op, she says, "a local farmer grows for a group of members who have purchased “shares” in the harvest. Members pay at the beginning of the season in March, when the farmer most needs the money. When the crops start coming in June, the farmer delivers a weekly assortment of vegetables, herbs, and some fruit. 100% of your food dollars go to the person who is growing it and you are supporting sustainable local agriculture and get freshly picked organic produce at reasonable prices."

Slow going

It sounds great, but in the two months Meeker has spent trying to get the CSA off the ground in Woodbridge, she has no confirmed members, and just a handful of "definitely interested" types.

That's probably because the upfront costs for joining a CSA - $650 for a full share, which feeds a family of four, or $375 for a half share that will keep a couple in organic produce - seem a bit steep, especially in a bad economy.

Meeker knows. "I know it sounds expensive, but when you look at a 20 week growing season, that works out to $32.50 a week for a family of four," she said.

She said when she goes to Wegmans to buy produce, she easily spends $40 to feed her family of a husband and two young children. "And that isn't buying organic. I tend not to in a supermarket, because it's usually more expensive," Meeker said.

There's flexibility with joining the CSA. An upfront cost is $100 along with an application to the farmer - in this case, Central Valley Farm in Asbury - buys you a place on the waiting list. That is due April 1, with the CSA balance by the beginning of May.

The amount and variety of organic produce is impressive. According to Meeker, the seasons run from spring to fall, with a variety of seasonal fruit, vegetables, and even flowers that are delivered weekly from the farm.

CSA members will meet in the parking lot of , a yoga studio and spa on Woodbridge Avenue in Sewaren, to divvy up the spoils each week during the growing seasons.

"You bring your own bags and take your own vegetables," Meeker said.

Don't like beets?

For those who may not be enthused by, say, beets, if that is one of weekly pickings from the farm, they can either trade with other CSA members, and perhaps pick up something more to the family's liking.

And if you get just too much food, a situation that has happened at other CSAs? "Some people just didn't even come by anymore in the last few weeks. It was like they had enough," Meeker said.

Meeker's solution is to "cut it up and freeze it. I'm still using produce from last year from my freezer."

Like Meeker said, it's all flexible.

A gardener and landscaper herself, working in the soil is one of her passions, as is getting the freshest fruits and vegetables. That and a magazine article on CSAs led her to the closest one she could find in Westfield.

They had over 100 members, and it was very well run, but just too far to get to. By then, the Metuchen CSA had started up with about 35 members. 

Crossing Route 1, though, was an issue to the mother with two young children. 

Seeking to save time and gas, Meeker was inspired to start a CSA right in Woodbridge. She's spoken to several groups, and they seem enthusiastic.

"Once people do it, they'll love it. It tastes so good and the freshness of it is amazing. 

"Word of mouth will make the CSA grow, and people will be more into it. The first year will be the toughest to get people to understand what a CSA is and get into it," she said. "But it'll happen."

For more information about the Woodbridge CSA, visit the website, or call Carolyn Meeker at 201-738-6094.


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