ECO Remains Open! Letter from CEO
March 13, 2020
Dear neighbors, CSA members, Riverdale Park Farmers Market customers, volunteers, trainees, friends:
We write this letter to assure you that ECO City Farms expects to continue to grow and distribute its produce throughout this coronavirus crisis.
WE WILL STAY OPEN
At ECO City Farms, we are well aware that many educational institutions and public venues have taken the precautionary step of closing their doors for the remainder of the month or semester so that people can maintain healthy distances from one another during this unprecedented global health crisis. As a production urban farm, ECO doesn’t have the luxury of having our staff telecommute. Rather, our mission is to keep you safe and healthy with chemical free, locally grown food year-round.
WE WILL WORK
Our urban farm is not an ordinary workplace. Growing food is not generally performed with close contact to other humans. We are outdoors and have sufficient distance between us so that it is not easy for germs to easily spread.
WE WILL CONTINUE OUR CSA
As a result, we plan to keep our doors open, our staff and apprentices working, our trainees training and our CSA available to all who subscribe. If we are sufficiently well staffed, and presuming farmers markets remain open, we will also soon be back at the Riverdale Park Market.
WE WILL TAKE ADDED PRECAUTIONS
Since most of our produce is distributed via our CSA, we want to assure you that it is safe-to pick up and to eat. While our operation already adheres to high standards of cleanliness and hygiene, we are now taking additional precautions to maximize food safety and health.
These include:
Instituting strict personal hygiene regimes for all food production staff;
Minimizing the number of hands that actually process or touch the food;
Ensuring the cleanliness of all tools, implements and surfaces in contact with food;
Keeping vegetables handling to a minimum.
WE WANT YOU TO WASH YOUR VEGGIES TOO
Even before the pandemic, we decided to minimize our washing of produce to ensure that it lasts longer, does not sit in water or mold. Root vegetables, kohlrabi and microgreens are not bathed in water- you can do that cleaning at home. Cooking greens like kale, collards, chard and mustard are only washed once- you should rewash before you cook them at home. Salad greens and arugula are double washed and dried- we still encourage you to wash again before eating.
YOUR CSA WILL BE BAGGED AND READY FOR YOU
As an added safety precaution, in order to further limit face to face contact and minimize the handling of produce, we have decided to pack your CSA bag for you each week and have them ready for easy pick up. We can return to having people select their own items once life returns to normal.
WE WANT YOU SAFE AND HEALTHY
Once again, we want to reiterate that ECO City Farms exists so that people in our community can learn about sustainably and safely producing food near where it is eaten, and to encourage others to be producers of healthy locally grown food. Ultimately, we want to ensure that all people everywhere have access to healthy affordable food.
WE WANT TO THANK YOU FOR YOUR CONTINUED SUPPORT OF ECO CITY FARMS
Together we continue to be a strong and healthy community.
Sincerely,
Margaret Morgan-Hubbard and the Staff of ECO City Farms
