Please join Urbana’s Market at the Square, The Land Connection, and Urbana First Fridays for the Third Annual Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) Fair on Friday, March 3rd from 4-7 p.m. at the Urbana Civic Center, located at 108 East Water Street in Urbana.
At the Third Annual CSA Fair, customers will have the opportunity to meet local farmers and businesses that offer CSA programs and buying clubs, learn about their farms or businesses, and select a share or club that best meets their needs! In addition, the CSA Fair will feature music by Pinecar, a Sprouts at the Market activity table, and, for adults, a delicious selection of freshly prepared vegan-friendly cocktails artfully crafted by Lumen Events, featuring freshly squeezed juices from The Dancing Dog Eatery & Juicery.
What is a CSA? It allows customers committed to the local economy an opportunity to connect on a deeper level than purchasing from a retail store, and even differently than making purchases at a farmers market. With the CSA method of doing business, farms offer fresh food products through annual subscriptions, or a flat fee, that a customer pays for up front once a year in exchange for a portion of those farmers’ products. The products are then delivered weekly or monthly to a central pick-up location or made available for pick up at Urbana-Champaign farmers markets.
“We’ve been encouraged by the turnout at the past two annual events and now we’re expanding the event to include more farmers, local cocktails, and samples” noted Natalie Kenny Marquez, Director of Urbana’s Market at the Square. “It’s a great opportunity to get out of the house after a long winter, support downtown Urbana businesses during the Urbana First Friday events, and stop in at the Urbana Civic Center to connect with area farmers and secure your share of a local farm for this growing season.”
We encourage customers to connect with farmers and producers directly to learn about their specific parameters around sign-up. For a complete listing of vendors participating in this CSA Fair, please visit www.urbanaillinois.us/CSA-Fair. There is still plenty of shopping to be done at the local farmers markets, and you’ll never want to skip a market day; however, by participating in a CSA you’ll have the opportunity to help your favorite farmers at a whole new level.
To learn more, please call Urbana’s Market at the Square at 217/384-2319, or email urbanamarket@urbanaillinois.us or visit www.urbanaillinois.us/CSA-Fair.
