Dinebergs Farm Cabbage

Dinebergs Farm Cabbage, 8" x 10", Oil on Board, by Bridget Grady

Fresh off the easel!

(Caution Wet Paint ! -please pardon the glare!)

This week’s vegetable was kindly donated to me by Dinebergs Farm.  The Dinebergs Farm is a CSA farm in Canton, Connecticut, run by Karl and Kurt Dineberg. They come down to the Watertown Farmer’s market on Saturdays with their gorgeous produce. CSA’s, or for those of you unfamiliar with the acronym,(Community Supported Agriculture), provide a way for consumers to buy farm produce and products directly from the farmer. They do this by selling memberships or subscriptions to the harvest. Some farms actually deliver! It benefits everyone involved. The small farmers are assured that there is a market for their efforts and the buyers are provided with sustainable, locally produced, nutritious and tasty food products.

The Dineberg’s cater to “Locavores”. “Locavore” is a relatively new term that describes a type of eco-conscious consumer. “Locavores”, according to the Wikipedia definition, are persons “…interested in eating food that is locally produced and not moved long distances to market”. An environmental benefit of food that is locally produced is that it contributes to the reduction of carbon emissions. These emissions are the result of long distance travel of farm products to market. Along with the reduction of transportation emissions, supporting small farmers can help keep our food supplies safe and less dependent on industrialized farming. Industrialized farm practices contribute to climate change and water pollution by way of extensive dependence on fossil fuels for everything from fertilizer to transport. 

The Dineberg’s are also a great example of how one can participate in farming without buying the farm! The brothers run their business off of three leased acres in Windsor. There is a nice article by Sylvia Cancela of the Canton Patch,( see the link below) about the Dinebergs Farm with more extensive history on the origins of the farm.

Dinebergs Farm website - http://www.dinebergsfarm.com/

  

For more information on Community Supported Agriculture Check out these links

http://www.localharvest.org/csa/

In Connecticut - http://www.farmfresh.org/food/csa.php?gclid=CIGotLzP2aoCFcmG5goddF7eRg

Sylvia Cancela Article  - Canton Patch Link - http://canton-ct.patch.com/articles/farmer-chef-karl-dineberg