CityView Magazine

60 | October 2017 e organization is extra unique in that it is the first in the country where producers, consumers and staff are all counted as equal members, said co- founder Jan Leitschuh. According to Berman, the co-op currently serves 1,000 to 1,200 members and is partnered with 40 to 50 different farmers and product producers. e items in the boxes depend on the season and the level of subscription. For example, in the spring and summer, the boxes will contain such produce as lettuce, tomatoes, kale, carrots, onions, peppers, strawberries, peaches, sweet corn, blueberries, cantaloupe, cucumbers and watermelon, as well as "habit-stretchers" like bok choy, okra and mushrooms, to encourage dietary experimentation. With the start of fall, the boxes' contents change. Berman says the fall offerings are likely to include field tomatoes, broccoli, six varieties of apples, butternut squash, kale, three varieties of peaches, fairytale pumpkins, elephant garlic, sweet potatoes, spinach, three types of muscadine grapes, baby bok choy, acorn squash, carrots, Bibb lettuce, Sandhills Salsa, collards, radishes, Chinese cabbage, various berry jams, natural fall decorations like decorative Indian corn and more. e produce is typically picked within 24 hours of its delivery and sometimes on the very morning the items are delivered. "North Carolina has an amazing diversity of climate," Berman said. "We can grow an astounding variety of food product and to me it makes more sense to have it done locally. It decreases your carbon footprint, and having farmland is also better for the environment, so many things help to make it a benefit for everybody." Berman also believes the co-op has an important economic impact on the community. "For every dollar that you spend, it circulates within the local economy," she said. "If we buy local produce and the farmer hires people and they spend their dollars locally as well, it really contributes a lot more than if you spend your money at the big chains that have distribution from all over the country. Much of that money goes to wherever the corporate headquarters is, which is sometimes in other countries. It takes the money out of the local economy for sure, even when those big chains hire locally." According to the National Agricultural Statistics Service, North Carolina is home to more than 50,000 farms, which generate an estimated $12.5 billion a year in revenue. e co-op was organized in 2009 and began operating in 2010 to help local farmers struggling both from the elimination of tobacco subsidies and the economic downturn. Leitschuh said Moore County was losing farmland to development faster than nearly anyplace else in the nation at one point in the 2000s. Sandhills Farm to Table sought to stem that loss by giving local farmers a market for produce and other food crops. "is supports the farmers in two ways," Berman said. "We provide a consistent market for them, so they know certain crops can be sold, and we give them a better price than the wholesale price from one of the grocery stores." And the co-op does vital leg work for farmers. While a farmer may be able

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