Feast Down East, a local organization that  works to strengthen the local farming community by providing distribution opportunities to area restaurants, markets and communities in need, has launched a community supported agriculture (CSA) program to provide farm fresh produce to the community.

With many restaurants closing temporarily or limiting their menus in the response to coronavirus restrictions, orders from local farms are down significantly, according to Feast Down East's executive director, Cara Stretch. Individual consumers, however, in response to social distancing and stay-at-home orders, are seeking ways to safely access fresh produce on a regular basis.

Thus the idea to create Farm to Fork, a program designed to offer weekly boxes of fresh produce from farms within a 50 mile radius of Feast Down East’s food hub in Burgaw.

Stretch said the organization has been exploring options for setting up this type of service for the past year or so, and now seemed like the time to put it out there and test the response.

Last week they started with 50 boxes available at $35 each, and sold out within the first 24 hours. This week they upped the number of boxes to 100, and have sold out yet again.

Stretch said they are aiming to offer 150 next week due to the positive response and the fact that farmers are beginning to harvest more as the summer season begins.

Orders must be placed by noon Mondays for drive-thru pickup at Tidal Creek Co-op, 5329 Oleander Drive, on Thursdays between 4 and 6 p.m.

The boxes are filled with a different mix of produce every week from the following farms:

• Cottle Organics – Rose Hill
• Red Beard Farms – Willard
• Black River Organic Farm – Ivanhoe
• Jackson Farm – Godwin
• Britt Farm – Mount Olive
• Sarge’s Farm – Currie
• Windmill Farm – Rocky Point
• Shelton Herb Farm – Leland
• The Wilmington Mushroom Company – Wilmington

In addition to the produce boxes, items such as eggs, bacon, ground beef, sausage, honey and cheese are available.

For more information, visit the Feast Down East website.

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