MANSFIELD, Ohio –Since her feature in the Eye on Entrepreneurs series last year, Pam Mack has expanded her business venture to include Community Supported Agriculture (CSA). Not just an average CSA program, Vitality Bucket is specialized to suit the needs of what Mack refers to as “maturing adults,” ages 50 and above.
A CSA is a program that allows people to purchase, in advance, seasonal shares of a farm’s harvest. CSA members share in the risks, as well as the benefits, of food production.
The Vitality Bucket website explains, “When you become a member of a CSA you commit yourself to supporting a farmer for a season by helping to pay for seed, soil amendments, and growing supplies. In return, the farmer will provide you with a variety of fresh, high-quality produce throughout the growing season.”
The goal of the CSA is to provide local, fresh, nutritionally dense organic foods to patrons and address the basic nutritional needs of those age 50 and older, said Mack. Through Vitality Bucket, Mack will supply vegetables and melons grown on her certified organic farm to maturing adults.
“I like the idea of having something for maturing adults. Something that provides the nutrition that we need,” she said.
Mack, a maturing adult herself, said she felt something was needed for that age group to help them maintain their health.
“When we eat the right types of food, our health is good, we can do more things, and we feel like getting out and doing things,” said Mack.
Nutrition information in the CSA brochure lists which foods provide certain vitamins and minerals. Vitamin E, for example, is found in spinach, broccoli, pumpkins, potatoes, and several others.
“There was an intern studying to be a dietitian, and she put together that information for me. She volunteered her time,” said Mack.
The process, noted Mack, is simple. Patrons simply sign up online, pay a share fee, choose a pick-up point for their produce, and receive regular emails to let them know how the gardens are coming along.
“There’s an educational component to it, also,” said Mack. She plans to include printouts from The Ohio State University Senior Series, which educates seniors on health, wellness, and nutrition.
Pick up locations and times will be Fridays from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Downtown Mansfield Farmer’s Market, located near the Carrousel, 75 N. Main, Mansfield, and the Adkins 12th St. Market located at 118 E 12th St., Ashland, from 4 to 6 p.m.
Mack plans to participate in both markets, as well as have her CSA pick-ups there.
Mack said she already has seedlings started for this year’s garden, and is trying a few new growing methods to improve production, such as starting beans to be transplanted instead of direct seeding.
Chutney and other value-added products are still in the works for Mack’s business, L Marie Ltd., which is the parent company of Vitality Bucket. L Marie Ltd. was established to leave a legacy for Mack’s grandsons, and named in honor of their mother, Mack’s deceased daughter.
Mack explained that the lack of a commercial kitchen has kept her chutney and relish from production. “I didn’t know it would be so hard to find [a commercial kitchen],” she said.
She noted she is currently exploring a few options in that area, and still plans to get that aspect of the business underway.
For more information on the CSA or Mack’s products, visit the Vitality Bucket website.
Richland Source featured many local entrepreneurs in its Eye on Entrepreneurs series which began last year. Now we plan to check in with a few of them and see where they are now, one year later.
