(note on the coronavirus)
Dear Tinicum CSA Community,
I hope you are all doing well and looking forward to the season.
With the difficulties facing everyone due to the Coronavirus, I want to let you know that we are taking the situation seriously. The health of our members has always been a top priority and we will be taking further measures to ensure that everyone is safe.
Eating healthy, nutrient-dense veggies is one of the best things you can do to maintain a strong immune system. As a small local farm, we are well-positioned to provide this essential asset to our community.
Ways that the CSA is inherently safe and clean:
– Our veggies are handled by a maximum of three people on harvest days, maximum of four people total during their cultivation
– The produce travels just about the length of a football field to get from the soil to your hands.
– At CSA pickup there are usually only 20-30 people at a time
– As it is outdoors, the distribution space has good air circulation.
– There are very few surfaces that people touch or places where people linger.
– We are obsessed about food safety and the cleanliness of your veggies — we already maintain a rigorous cleaning protocol for all knives, bins, wash station surfaces, etc. (and ourselves!)
Nonetheless, we are taking extra precautions as we proceed with the season.
Based on recommendations from the CDC, here’s what we’re doing:
– Installing a hand washing station & requiring hand-washing upon arrival to the farm for pick-up
– Providing hand sanitizer at CSA pick-ups
– Providing food- safe gloves during CSA pick-ups for you to wear while reaching into bins for veggies
– Pre-bagging loose greens when necessary
– Sanitizing surfaces with alcohol throughout pick-up
– Recommending that folks do not touch more veggies than necessary (you touch it, you take it) — all of our veggies are quite edible regardless of their specific shape or size
– Recommending that older folks send younger people to pick up for them
– Requesting that if you are sick, you stay home and send a neighbor or a friend to get your veggies for you
Additionally:
– No member of the farm crew works if they have a cough, fever, flu, or stomach illness
– We will routinely sanitize frequently touched surfaces on the farm
-We will continue to scrupulously clean and sanitize all items that come in contact with your veggies, such as harvest knives and scissors, bins, the wash station, etc.
If necessary we will switch to a boxed share format for folks to pick up on the farm. This would entail greater logistical, financial, and time strains on the farm, but we want to make sure that everyone continues to have access to fresh, healthy produce at a time when we all need to maintain healthy immune systems. Currently, we are keeping with our regular on farm pick-up format. Switching to a boxed share format would depend upon the evolving recommendations from the CDC.
On a personal note, I am honored to be able to continue to serve the community through persisting in the face of this new challenge. Over the last few years, I’ve been thinking about how my role in our community is to be a steady hand for those around me. I feel a deep sense of responsibility to all of you who share in the harvest. In spite of weather-related challenges, we have been able to be a reliable source of healthy produce for the last seven years.
Although we face a difficult new reality with this virus, I am more determined than ever to proceed in a calm, practical, and loving way to ensure you and your family can safely engage in our 8th season at Tinicum CSA.
If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to email me. And thank you all for your support.
All my best,
John