Program areas at Massaro Community Farm
Community supported agriculturecommunity supported agriculture (csa), is a partnership between farmers and members of the Community. When Community members purchase a csa subscription, they connect with and support the Farm by paying in advance for produce they will receive throughout the season. This advance payment helps to cover operating expenses and capital investment of the Farm each year, allowing the Farm to focus on its operation and plan for the season. In 2023, 323 csa subscriptions were fulfilled and the total harvest was 57,876 pounds, of which 7,285 pounds were donated to hunger relief.
Educational programsmassaro Community Farm runs educational programs for children and adults in sustainable agriculture and nutrition. In 2023, the Farm continued its multitude of offerings for all ages, including a full-day summer camp, and hosting a number of adult groups for days of service. In addition, the Farm partnered with emmett o'brien technical high school to begin construction of a pavilion in our learning garden, which will serve as the center point of our education and Community programs. In total, we offered 109 on-farm programs and approximately 2,240 youth and adults visited the Farm for a program at the Farm over the course of the year.
Preservation and restorationthrough an operating lease with the town of woodbridge, Massaro Community Farm leases approximately a 58 acre century old Farm and historical buildings. Massaro Community Farm works to preserve and restore the buildings, improve the infrastructure, maintain and improve the land to enable the property to operate as a working Farm. For the period beginning from inception in 2008 through december 31, 2023, Massaro Community Farm has expended more than $569,000 for land clearing; irrigation and well repair and installation; barn, Farm house and greenhouse improvements and restoration.
Hunger relief/free food production and distributionmassaro Community Farm donates fresh organically grown food to low-income persons through food banks, homeless shelters and other social service agencies in the lower naugatuck valley and greater new haven. We continued to donate at least 10% of our harvest to health, human service and hunger relief agencies, offered sliding scale pricing tiers for our csa subscriptions, and accept ebt as payment for produce and other Farm goods.