Fishkill Farms CSA

I visited the actual fishkill farm and their treatment of the rabbits was inhumane. I posted a picture of the tiny cage the rabbits were kept in. The cage was very small in terms of depth – it wasn’t big enough for the rabbits to actually stand up. In terms of width, the space where the rabbits could walk (that is, as best they could without being able to stand) was extremely small. A few rabbits were packed in and each had a space about 1 square foot wide to move in. These were big rabbits too, so that’s not much space at all. I asked one of the farmers what the deal was and he said that at night they put the rabbits in a bigger cage but during the day they keep them in the small one «for the visitors.» I don’t really understand how showcasing inhumane animal practices is supposed to be a nice thing to show off to visitors. No animal should be kept in a cage like that for any period of time. I am really disgusted by this place.

We have been SO impressed by the Park Slope Fishkill Farms CSA this season! This is the first year that this CSA has been in Park Slope, and we couldn’t be happier with how abundant, varied and fresh the produce has been. Our CSA started earlier than most (the first week in June) and now that we’ve reached peak season, we are astonished by how much we are getting. This week alone we received–
— 2 quarts Peaches
— 1 pint Sugar Plums
— 1 half pint Blueberries
— 1 half pint Black Currants
— 1 Kale Bunch
— 1 Kohlrabi
— 1 Bok Choi
— 1 Lettuce Head
— 1 Basil Bunch
— 1 Beet Bunch
— 1 Scallion Bunch
— 1 Tomato
— 3 squash (one green, one zucchini an one yellow squash)
The best part is that on the whole, much of what we receive week to week varies, which is markedly different from the previous CSA we had (where we had 14 weeks of swiss chard and 8 weeks of pears when everyone else we knew was getting berries, cherries and melons). Plus, they only offer organic veggies and eco-​friendly fruit, which is not always the case with every CSA.
The only downside to the CSA is the pickup time −11−1 on Saturday mornings. This is kind of a drag for those who want to be unencumbered on the weekends. I hope they will consider offering another day next year, but I suspect they will leave it on Saturday to coincide with other market visits in town. It also isn’t cheap, but I do believe that if you are planning to buy organically grown veggies and low-​spray fruit anyway, it actually will work out in your favor. If you are in the neighborhood or near enough by to take part, I high recommend the Fishkill Farms CSA. What a great new addition to the neighborhood!