Community-Supported Agriculture
Enriching Our Bodies & Communities
Aside from exercise, eating well is the main controllable factor in our health and wellness. Eating a diet high in fresh fruits and vegetables helps our bodies get the vitamins and minerals we need to live a long, healthy life. A great solution to getting the ingredients needed to create delicious and nutritious meals is by becoming a shareholder of a CSA, which stands for Community-Supported Agriculture. A CSA strengthens a community by not only providing its members with these fresh fruits and vegetables, but by also keeping a larger portion of the money in the local community it serves.
Angelic Organics, a local CSA family farm in Caledonia, Illinois, has been supplying the Rockford community with high-quality organic food for the past 25 years. CSAs like Angelic Organics partner with community members called shareholders. Community members purchase a share from the CSA at the beginning of the growing season and receive boxes of fresh, ready-to-eat produce periodically (usually weekly) during the growing season. Angelic Organics’ shareholders receive fresh organic produce at a lower cost than what they might spend on a comparable amount of produce at Whole Foods. In return, the CSA has a guaranteed market for their product that buffers them against the uncertainties of nature.
Our members can come in for a workout and leave with their veggies for the week.
The local nature of the CSA also helps keep more money in the community by lowering transportation costs and cutting out supermarket middlemen. “Partnering with CSAs like Angelic Organics and Hazzard Free Farms are just another way that FitMe has strengthened its commitment to the health of our members and the local community,” says Greg Georgis, owner and founder of FitMe Wellness in Rockford, Illinois. “Our members are sophisticated consumers who understand our motto, ‘Move More, Eat Better,’ is not just lip service. They know the effort they put in exercising here at FitMe has to be complemented by a healthy diet, so Angelic Organics and FitMe have made it easy. Members can pick up their veggies anytime on Fridays directly at FitMe Wellness. They can come in for a workout and leave with their veggies for the week. Our members get access to the best quality ingredients, Angelic gets to lock in revenue for the summer, and the money stays in our community. It is a win-win.”
