How Does Buying From Local Farmers & Artisans Support Our Local Food System?
Each month, we send out a newsletter exploring a different aspect of our work. Read our July 2026 newsletter to learn how buying from local farmers and artisans supports a local food system.
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Giving Gardens
By Community Engagement and Farm Director Meg Boria-Meyer
No conversation about a thriving local food system would be complete without celebrating local CSAs.
For those new to the concept of a CSA – it stands for Community Supported Agriculture. Think of this as vegetable subscription where members pay in advance of the season (monetarily investing in the farm) and receive freshly harvested produce weekly.
As Working Food’s Giving Garden Farm winds down the growing season and prepares for a summer rest, we are also closing out this year’s CSA membership. Our next growing season begins this fall, where we will have 15 paying members. Our members’ financial investment makes it possible for our farm to donate the majority of what’s grown to expand fresh food access in our community.
While our CSA is completely full for next season, there are other farms in Alachua County offering incredible CSA programs. Below is a review of just a few you might consider if you would like to receive local, organic produce each week throughout our nine month growing season.
Being a CSA member directly supports local farmers, ensuring the sustainability of our local food systems.
Siembra Farm offers 32 weeks of farm fresh goodies, beginning Nov. 4, 2026 and ending June 16, 2027. Siembra offers individual-sized and family-sized shares.
Frog Song Farm offers a CSA Program for four seasonal periods throughout the year, each 13 weeks in total. For example, the Fall 2026 season begins Oct. 5 and ends on Jan. 2. Plus, Frog Song’s CSA can be purchased with SNAP benefits!
You’ll also find these farms at local markets, such as the Grove Street Farmers Market near downtown Gainesville, the Haile Farmers Market in Haile Village, and the Alachua County Farmers Market at San Felasco Tech City.
It’s important to note, too, that you’ll find another local favorite Nicoya Farm offering quality produce you’d find in the aforementioned CSAs, and at their booth at the Grove Street Farmers Market.
Nicoya Farm produce display at a farmers market, including Molokhia, a spinach variety saved by Working Food
Local Seed Spotlight
By Seed and Garden Director Melissa DeSa
Making seed variety selections is an important part of every farm’s seasonal planning. Farmers look for crops that are well-suited to our climate, grow reliably, produce good yields, resist diseases, and, of course, are something people enjoy eating. That’s a lot to ask of a single crop, which is why we’re always excited when farmers choose to include our locally grown seeds in their plans!
These seeds have often been selected and saved over many years right here in our region, making them well adapted to local growing conditions. By maintaining a regional seed supply, we invest in the long-term resilience and sustainability of local agriculture.
Here are some examples of food grown from local seed that you may spot at farmers markets across Alachua County:
Conie Pink Tomato
Years ago, Charlie and Christine Andrews of Hammock Hollow Farm in Island Grove shared with us their farm treasure: a beautiful and delicious cherry tomato they called Conie Pink (pronounced coo-knee). They’d been saving it for years not really knowing what variety it was and named it after one of their farm staff who was the one to first notice how unique it was. We also started growing it and fell in love, too. Then, we began sharing it through our seed collective. If you see some delightful pink cherry tomatoes at their booth at the Haile Market, ask them about Conie Pink!
Piracicaba Broccolini
We first heard about Piracicaba Broccolini several years ago, intrigued by a “heat tolerant” variety of a challenging crop for Florida growers. After growing it ourselves for a few seasons, we were impressed by its resilience in our climate, excellent flavor, tender stems, and high productivity. It’s now a staple crop at Nicoya Farm! Because it performs so well, the farmers plant multiple successions throughout the season, providing a long harvest window for a crop that customers love and return for. Read more about this variety in our March 2026 newsletter.
Mainstream Cantaloupe
While you can find this variety almost anywhere, this local version has a special story. The seed comes from Tommy Simmons of Bellevue Gardens in Archer, who has been saving seeds from this and many other staple crops since the 1990s. Mainstream Cantaloupe is an open-pollinated variety, so seeds can be saved and replanted year after year. It has proven to be both productive and delicious, as well as fragrant, sweet and bright in color!
In recent years, Siembra Farm has grown this variety and helped continue the seed-saving effort, ensuring it remains available for future growers. Tommy is excited we are helping to steward his seeds by sharing them with the next generation of younger farmers.
Local Food Connection
By Local Food Director Jasmine Angelini-Knoll
This spring, Working Food launched the pilot season of our new online market. Starting with 10 local vendors, the market offers fresh produce, beef and pork, shellfish, tempeh, local fruit jams, roasted coffee, and handcrafted sauces and seasonings through a weekly ordering cycle available via our online market platform.
Help us shape the next season of the Online Market - Complete our shopper survey by July 27 to be entered into a drawing for one of two $100 gift certificates. You can still take the survey even if you didn't get a chance to shop from the market during our pilot season. Winners will be contacted directly by Aug. 7.
We’ll use this feedback to shape the next market season. Thank you for helping build a market that reflects our community!
We started this project to:
Offer greater convenience in selecting and picking up local food for community members
Connect local farmers and food artisans with another revenue channel for their products
The online market is on a summer break!
We will return in the fall with more abundance from our local farmers and artisans, with weekly ordering from September through June for the 2026-2027 season.
We hope you’ll join us this fall for an easy and convenient way to directly support farms and artisans offering a diverse array of local products.
Thank you to our producers - the local farmers and artisans who partnered with us for the spring pilot season:
Afternoon Roasting
Cedar Acres Farm
Flavorful
Frog Song Organics
Fruitful Earth Farms
Jayda’s Jam
Siembra Farm
Nicoya Farm
Oystercatcher Shellfish
The Tempeh Shop
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