CT NOFA Renews Farm Share Program for 2023
January 3, 2023
After a successful pilot program year in 2022, CT NOFA is happy to announce that we will continue to work collaboratively and region-wide in the Northeast to renew our community food security program, Farm Share. This program aims to provide limited income residents in the seven states of the Northeast (NY, MA, CT, RI, NJ, NH, VT) with the opportunity to support their local CSA farmer and receive reliable access to high-quality produce on a weekly basis through an innovative cost-share model.
We believe that all people have a right to access local, healthy food. We believe in strengthening the network that exists between consumers and farmers as a means to strengthen the fabric of our agrarian economy and contribute to the physical and spiritual nourishment of all people.
Spearheaded by the Northeast Organic Farming Association of Connecticut (CT NOFA), and modeled on the Farm Share Program that has existed in NOFA-VT and NOFA-NH for many years, this region-wide collaboration is designed to make local, nourishing food more accessible while, equally importantly, still providing CSA farmers with a fair price and increase in market opportunity.
This season farmers will have the opportunity to offer a number of half-priced CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) shares, by partnering with NOFA, at no cost to the farmer.
How It Works:
- CT NOFA provides funds for 50% of each farm share, paid directly to the farms.
- Farm Share program recipients pay 50% of the total farm share cost upon program acceptance. Payment is made directly to the farm.
- Participating farms are encouraged to fundraise to help subsidize the cost of the share(s) offered through the Farm Share program.
Farm Share is a win-win-win: individuals and families gain access to healthy, affordable food; farmers benefit from an increase in market opportunities, build their customer base, and make their CSA programs more viable; and direct relationships are built between farmers and eaters, contributing to more socially connected and resilient communities.
Visit our Farm Share page to learn more about the launch of this important program and subscribe to our newsletter to stay up to date on all developments. If you are interested in supporting or participating in Farm Share through a donation or as a CSA farmer, please contact CT NOFA’s Farm Share Program Coordinator, Sherlene Rodriguez, sherlene@ctnofa.org, or visit our website for more information and relevant forms.
PLEASE NOTE that CSA farmer applications to participate in the program are due by March 1, 2023.
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Advocacy News: May 2026
The Good News: CT Senator Chris Murphy has introduced a bill (bipartisan and bicameral) to increase funding for Agricultural Management Assistance to $30 million and to expand the eligible uses for these funds to include “soil health improvements, composting, implementing organic farming, and food safety certification in addition to existing authorized uses such as water management structure and soil erosion control.” Let’s thank Senator Murphy for introducing this bill!
The Bad News: The Farm Bill passed the House of Representatives on April 30, despite 320 food, farm, and conservation organizations, including CT NOFA, voicing our opposition to a bill that does not fix SNAP, does not support new and beginning farmers, and does not adequately support conservation programs or organic agriculture. Now it goes to the Senate and we need to urge both of Connecticut’s Senators to reject this Farm Bill.
Our Vision for a Future of Resilient, Plentiful, Healthy and Locally-Grounded Farming and Food
In concluding its annual retreat, the Northeast Organic Farming Association Interstate Council (NOFA IC) reaffirms the values that have grounded our work for 55 years.
Our vision is that every person is able to live their life with healthy food, clean water and air, community, livelihood, dignity, and purpose within the means of our life-giving planet. We seek that vision on every level, from our households and farms to our communities, states, bioregions, nation, and world. For that vision to be fulfilled, every person, no matter their origin or circumstances, must have all their basic human needs met without degrading the air, water, soil, ecosystems, and climate which we have been given and on which we depend for our lives.