{"id":10110,"date":"2012-07-02T10:00:45","date_gmt":"2012-07-02T14:00:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/new-hampshire\/?p=10110"},"modified":"2012-07-17T11:19:46","modified_gmt":"2012-07-17T15:19:46","slug":"monadnock-region-snapshot-a-growing-local-food-movement-doesnt-translate-to-prosperity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/new-hampshire\/2012\/07\/02\/monadnock-region-snapshot-a-growing-local-food-movement-doesnt-translate-to-prosperity\/","title":{"rendered":"Monadnock Region Snapshot: A Growing Local Food Movement Doesn’t Translate To Prosperity"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Amanda Loder \/ StateImpact New Hampshire<\/p>

The local food movement is gaining popularity, especially in the Monadnock region. But that doesn't necessarily mean big money for small farmers.<\/p><\/div>\n

Tomorrow morning on NHPR, we\u2019ll introduce you to Tracie Smith, a<\/em>\u00a0farmer\u00a0in the Monadnock Region. Tracie’s story is Part Two of our series \u201cGetting By, Getting Ahead,\u201d examining how people across New Hampshire\u2019s seven regions are navigating a recovering economy.<\/em><\/p>\n

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Farming has long been crucial to New Hampshire\u2019s Monadnock region<\/a>, where rows of vegetable and fruit crops pock a hilly landscape of hearty green forests. But lately, there\u2019s a new economic opportunity for area farmers: The growing popularity of something called “community supported agriculture.”<\/p>\n

The concept is simple. Some consumers are fed up with the produce they find at supermarkets because so much of it is grown far away from home. They want locally grown produce because it\u2019s fresher and it supports the local economy. Under the community supported agriculture model (CSA for short), consumers pay a farmer a few hundred dollars for a share of his or her crop. As the season progresses, the farmer harvests the produce and divides it out for the customers, who either come to the farm to pick it up or have it delivered.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s impossible to know how many CSAs exist in the Monadnock area; many don\u2019t advertise their shares because they\u2019re already sold out. Lorraine Merrill<\/a>, New Hampshire’s Commissioner of Agriculture, Markets and Food, says about 50 CSAs have registered for the state directory<\/a>.\u00a0 The national\u00a0group Local Harvest<\/a>, meanwhile, has counted 90 CSAs<\/a> serving the state.\u00a0 And according to Local Harvest, about one-third of them are located in the Monadnock region.\u00a0 The movement has also taken off in other parts of the state.<\/p>\n

“I think the Monadnock area, the Upper Valley<\/a>, the Seacoast and increasingly, parts of the Merrimack Valley<\/a> as well are becoming hotspots of buying local and local food enthusiasm,” Merrill says.
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