Fresh Fork
Fresh Fork is, like City Fresh, a pseudo-CSA organization. As a consumer, you can sign up for a season-long share, or there is an a la carte option where you can order whatever, in whatever way you want. They also have $30 trial shares that vary week to week, which are a set of products that resemble something you would get if you signed up for the full season. All the signing up is done in order forms on their website.
http://www.freshforkmarket.com/
The mechanics of it work like this. You can pick a small CSA ($25/week, food selected by them), large CSA ($40/week, selected by them), full access ($50/week, half of it selected by you), or a la carte which works any way you want it to. But, their information says a la carte does not include delivery, nor do you get the savings they say result from picking the other options, which is five to ten dollars a week. The full season is 22 weeks.
There are five pick up locations: Hudson, Beachwood, Westlake, Middleburg Heights and Tremont. I was told that they have a delivery van that goes to each of these locations successively during the day and drops the food off. For this reason, all the pickup times are on Friday. On Saturday, the remainder can be picked up at Tremont, which happens to be their office. Unfortunately, only Westlake and Middleburg Heights are open after 5pm (Friday), and only Tremont is open on a weekend day.
There are other details concerning food allergies, what happens if you go on vacation and can't pick up your food, a point system where you get discounts for recruiting friends to join etc., which I invite you to look up on the website if you are interested.
Fresh Fork is dear to my heart because it was started by some Case students, even including someone who graduated from my high school just a year before me. According to Trevor Clatterbuck, a co-founder, Fresh Fork was an idea the students came up with at a business concept competition. They won, but alas got no prize money. The concept was to help businesses in using local ingredients - to set up an online directory that allowed companies and restaurants to find and buy food from local farmers. Fresh Fork started out doing just that, but this year they opened up their network to consumers too, allowing them to purchase in the ways I described above. Next year there are plans to start corporate pick up. This refers to marketing the CSA/a la carte/etc program to, for instance, an office in downtown Cleveland, getting some of the employees to sign up, and then delivering straight there. Very convenient for the customers.
As this company is only a few years old and run (as far as I know) mostly by people with relatively little experience, there are still some glitches in the system that they are working on. The website, for instance, is at times difficult to navigate or unclear. However, if you email them with questions, they answer promptly. They also have a number that operates 8am to midnight, all days of the week.
That being said, there is one thing I really like about their website. Once you sign up for "My Fresh Fork," (www.myfreshfork.com) you can click on all the things they have for sale and they have little descriptions, suggested uses, and a picture. This is helpful if you don't know what a mothe bean is, for instance.
They will also be having a $25 dollar Farm tour on September 20th. Sites include City Roast Coffee, HW Organics, Green Vista Cattle Ranch, Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center, Moreland Fruit Farm and Maize Valley. Lunch and busing included. I don't know if there are still spots or not.
What I bought:
1. Baby Turnips (two bunches) - Redozo Farm, $9.96
2. Microgreens (8 ounces) - Lacroix Farm, $4.67
3. Mothe Sprouts (small box...maybe 8 oz?) - Redozo Farm, $4.50
4. French Lentil Sprouts (small box, maybe 8 oz?) - Redozo Farm, $4.50
5. Grass-Fed Ground Beef (one lb) - Green Vista Farm, $3.90
Total: $27.53
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