Frequently Asked Questions

Below is a list of commonly asked questions about Growing Good Health and Community Supported Agriculture programs.

If you have questions different than the ones listed below, email them to rootedcommunityhealth@vumc.org.

Click to open —

  • CSA stands for community supported agriculture. A CSA works like a subscription program for vegetables and fruits. You pay local farmers in advance for vegetables and fruits to be produced in the upcoming growing season. For this program, VUMC will pay the farm. By purchasing a "share" in the farm, you share in both the risk and the bounty of the harvest while helping small farmers cover the cost of production (such as seeds, equipment maintenance, and labor). Throughout the growing season, CSA members receive a portion of each harvest that includes a variety of vegetables. These baskets of fruits and vegetables are often brought by the farmers to a central location for convenient pickup by members.

  • CSA boxes include a variety of in-season fruits and vegetables. For example, the spring CSA box may have a variety of salad greens, carrots, beets, radishes, broccoli and turnips. As the season moves to summer, CSA boxes may include peppers, tomatoes, eggplant and squash. Fall will bring kale, winter squash, sweet potatoes, cucumbers and mustard greens.

  • Participating in a CSA program gives you an opportunity to meet the hardworking, talented and intelligent people that grow healthy and delicious food. Also, CSA programs provide farmers with a stable source of income when they are preparing for the growing season. As a CSA participant, you receive food that is fresher than what can be purchased at the grocery store because it has been harvested just days before you receive it.

  • Typically, a half CSA share is a biweekly delivery of a ½ bushel basket of produce (about 10-12 items).  Growing Together Farm offers their half share as a weekly delivery of 5 items.

  • Every farm and CSA program will handle this situation differently, but it is often best practice to let your CSA program know in advance you are unable to pick up your share. Most CSA programs do not offer refunds for CSA shares not picked up by participants.

  • Every farm and CSA program will handle this situation differently. For some farms, changing your delivery day will be an easy switch, but for others it may be more difficult. Just ask your farmer!

  • If you are receiving your CSA share as part of your benefit package and stop working at VUMC, your share will be transferred to another VUMC employee who wants to receive a CSA share and you will no longer receive the CSA.

  • VUMC is excited to offer this program to our employees. Since there are a limited amount of shares available, we will monitor your participation throughout the project. Prior to the tax deductions in June and July, we will take steps to transfer CSA to another employee if a participants fails to pick up your share more than 4 consecutive times.

  • While VUMC will pay the farm for your subsidized CSA share, the value of the farm share, which can be up to $480 for a half share, is considered taxable income. See the chart below to find out the estimated taxes you will have to pay to participate in the program.

    FARMCOST

    1ST ESTIMATED

    TAX PAYMENT

    2ND ESTIMATED

    TAX PAYMENT

    3rd ESTIMATED

    TAX PAYMENT

    4th ESTIMATED

    TAX PAYMENT

    Caney Fork$480$35.58
    on May 24    		$35.58
    on June 21    		$35.58
    on Aug. 30    		$35.58
    on Sept. 27
    Delvin Farms$425$31.50
    on May 24    		$31.50
    on June 21    		$31.50
    on Aug. 30    		$31.50
    on Sept. 27
    Growing Together$320$23.72
    on May 24    		$23.72
    on June 21    		$23.72
    on Aug. 30    		$23.72
    on Sept. 27

     

  • Both Delvin Farms and Growing Together Farm have offered to drop off pre-packaged CSA boxes to VUMC. Both farms will drop off from 4 - 6 p.m. on Tuesday afternoons in the VUMC “N” parking lot located at the corner of Natchez Trace and Children’s Way.

  • We have a limited number of shares available, and enrollment in the program will close once we reach those allotments. A discount of 20% per share is also available to the first 150 employees who sign up but who don’t meet the pay level requirement for the program.

  • If you have additional questions about the program or the farms, you can contact Marie Holzer at 615.875.7996 or marie.holzer@vumc.org. Once the CSA share distribution begins, you will need to contact the farms directly for farm specific questions, such as pickup location, delivery date or vegetables provided each week or any special event the farm may host.

  • As a part of the Center for Biomedical Ethics and Society, the Rooted Community Health initiative seeks to engage the VUMC community in service to ecological sustainability, health promotion and human flourishing, and an ethically responsible understanding of our interdependency as a community within the vision of population health.

  • In support of its mission, Rooted Community Health is also encouraging participants to fill out a confidential survey before and after the CSA season. While not required, these surveys will ask questions about food and lifestyle behaviors and will help us evaluate the program.

  • You are not required to complete the survey; however, the information gathered from the survey would help us evaluate the program’s effectiveness.

  • The deadline to sign up is 5 p.m., Friday, April 26 for the 100% subsidy and 5 p.m., Friday, May 3 for the 20% discount. 

  • For help selecting a farm, review our “How to select a farm” infographic, or visit our website at https://www.vumc.org/cbmes/growing-good-health, where you can find information on each farm and a link to the farm’s website. Contact Marie Holzer at 615.875.7996 or marie.holzer@vumc.org with questions.