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Bishop’s Soon To Lift The Lid Off The Small Producer CSA Box…

Bishop's chef Andrea Carlson "cooks out of the box this summer"...
Bishop's chef Andrea Carlson "cooks out of the box this summer"...

News from Scout Supporter Bishop’s

(Vancouver, BC) – When you think of dinner at Bishop’s, you don’t usually imagine it coming out of a box but that is literally what will happen this coming July and August. Bishop’s Executive Chef Andrea Carlson is a huge supporter of CSA’s – Community Supported Agriculture. For those who are not yet familiar, CSAs allow small-producer farmers to pre-sell their crops. For a fee, people ‘subscribe’ to share in the harvest. Each week during the season, ‘shareholders’ receive a box brimming with just-picked, organic produce straight from the farm.

The trick with this system is that you never know exactly what you are going to receive from week to week. You might have a fair idea based on what is in season but you never actually know until you lift the lid. “Every week is a special creative challenge,” says Chef Carlson. “It’s a bit like Christmas, every box is a surprise – it’s a lot of fun to work with.”

Currently Bishop’s is supplied by two CSAs – Glorious Organics Cooperative (Fraser Common Farm) and City Farm Boy.

More than 30 years ago, a group of like-minded people banded together to form Fraser Common Farm Cooperative which bought its first ten acres of farmland near Aldergrove. Eight years ago, they were able to purchase a neighbouring property thereby doubling their land base and production. Two co-ops – Fraser Common Farm Co-op, whose shareholders own the land, and Glorious Organics Co-op, who farm it – work together to run this ‘community farm.’ Members of the farming co-op are all shareholders in the land co-op. David Catzel, who heads up the CSA ‘division’ of the Fraser Common Farm, says they grow more than 30 varieties of salad greens along with peas, beans, squash, garlic, herbs, onions, leeks, beets, carrots, potatoes, fennel, Jerusalem artichokes and edible flowers.

City Farm Boy, the brainchild of Ward Teulon, is the ‘new kid’ on the CSA block. Mr. Teulon’s approach is unique, he farms plots of land within Vancouver – usually yard gardens in private homes or unused allotment spaces. This year he is selling only 30 ‘shares’ and has planted a wide range of produce: beans, broad beans, beets, carrots, rhubarb, sugar snap peas, cucumbers along with several varieties of lettuce, peppers and tomatoes to name only a small portion of the 2009 crop.

“From each box I create a menu that accommodates approximately 10 people as our fresh sheet and early bird menus. When it’s gone it’s gone. They send what they harvest – that’s the point – it’s sharing in a portion of the harvest – not customizing,” says Chef Carlson.

The three-course ‘Out of the Box’ early bird menu is available every evening in July and August (while supplies last) from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. The price of only $38 is certainly a pleasant surprise.

If you wish to add a wine pairing created by Maitre d’ Abel Jacinto, then that is an additional $20 for 3 oz. pours or $38 if you prefer larger 6 oz. pours.

Reservations are always a good idea and can be made online at
www.bishopsonline.com or call 604-738-2025.

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