10373 N. 300 E. / North Manchester, Indiana 46962 / 260/982-4961

Web: www.hawkinsfamilyfarm.com / Contact: JLHFarm@hawkinsfamilyfarm.com

 

January 2008

Dear friend of J.L. Hawkins Family Farm,

We like knowing where our food comes from. So in 1987 we started to raise it ourselves. We also like the fact that this allows us to use less packaging and treat the earth respectfully. Many of our customers have expressed similar sentiments.

In 2003 expanded our “pretty little Indiana farm” operation significantly to provide healthy chicken, turkey, beef, eggs, and fresh vegetables, shifting from part-time to full-time, and marketing our products through what has been called “Community Supported Agriculture” (Over 1000 CSAs have come into existence since the mid 1990’s demonstrating this to be a viable way to sustain the small farm.) Basically, it works like a magazine subscription: you pay in advance and receive regular installments of the products of our farm.

Or, to say it another way: rather than purchasing individual items under a direct-marketing model (where, for example, you fill out an order form for a certain number of chickens for which you are charged by the pound), you purchase a “share” of the total farm harvest to receive your choice of chickens, turkeys, beef, pork, eggs, and a weekly allotment of your most favorite in-season vegetables fresh from the garden. You get good food for a discount price and we get the financial stability necessary to sustain a small farm in an age when we are told that only large farms will make it. (For those who do not want to purchase a share, some products are available to purchase directly—see Order Form link on our home page.)

But that’s not all. The chief reason for this change is that it allows us to provide the setting for yet another farm enterprise, one to which we feel uniquely called and situated. It is called HOPE CSA, which stands for “Hands-On Pastoral Education using Clergy Sustaining Agriculture.” HOPE CSA is unique program in which clergy purchase a course of academic instruction along with shares of the harvest with their money and labor, meeting monthly for a half-day of light farm work (gardening, tending animals) as the experiential basis for the other half-day of course work, prayer and peer support, all of which is designed to re-vitalize pastors, their families, and their congregations for the ongoing demands of ministry. (We’d be happy to share more with those who have interest in this project. For more information, click here or on the www.hopecsa.org link on our website.)

Thank you for your interest in purchasing a share or other farm products for 2008. (You can find more detailed information by following the links on our website, particularly the “FAQ” material and the pictures.) And thank you as you help us find others willing to purchase shares in order to sustain the truly community-supported venture!

Peace and plenty,

J.L. Hawkins Family Farm