Buy Local Produce from Duke's Backyard

Starting now, Duke staff and faculty can sign up for weekly pickup for boxes that include varieties of fruits, vegetables and herbs from the Duke Campus Farm. It's part of the farm's "community supported agriculture" (CSA) program, where customers pre-pay for produce grown on Duke's own one-acre farm.

The program will run from May through August, and employees can sign up for a single month at a time or all four months at a discounted price. May, June and August cost $80, July costs $100 and all four months can be purchased for $300.

"During the academic year, we sell our produce to Duke's dining halls and don't get a regular chance to interact with our other customers," said Emily Sloss, manager of the Duke Campus Farm. "This is a fun way for us to get immediate feedback on what we're growing and a way for others to find new ingredients to cook with and enjoy."

Sign up is easy using an online form. Customers pick up their boxes of farm-fresh produce every Tuesday between 4 and 6 p.m. at Sarah P. Duke Gardens. The Duke Campus Farm also sells items weekly at the Duke Farmers Market.

While food grown at the farm isn't certified organic, the farm uses all natural practices, including no chemical fertilizers, herbicides or pesticides or genetically-modified seed.

Among those already signed up for Duke Campus Farm's CSA program is Mary Crawford, director of Procurement Services. She joined the CSA program last year and was excited to receive fruits and vegetables again. While Crawford used to spend about 10 hours a week tending to her own garden at home, she liked the food from Duke Campus Farm so much she recently turned her own vegetable garden into a butterfly garden.

"I had such a great experience with the Campus Farm I decided it wasn't worth my time to try and grow my own vegetables," said Crawford, who eats a vegan diet. "I found it to be a great way to not only support Duke, but support Duke students, too."

Crawford and other Duke community members who sign up for the Campus Farm CSA program can look forward to some of these fruits and vegetables in coming months:

• May - salad mix, strawberries, kale, rainbow chard, snap peas, radishes, beets, salad turnips, carrots, bac choi, broccoli rabe, greens and herbs
• June - cucumbers, snap peas, salad mix, mustard greens, beets, rainbow chard, kale, beets, potatoes, onions, garlic and herbs
• July - cucumbers, corn, eggplant, tomatoes, green beans, onions, garlic, rainbow chard, okra, basil
• August - tomatoes, eggplants, peppers, okra, watermelon, musk melon and herbs

"Getting food from the Campus Farm is this great sense of community because you know exactly where your food comes from and what goes into it," Crawford said. "It makes me feel good working at Duke and knowing I contributed to making Duke more sustainable."