It’s Not Just About Vegetables was made in 1986 – a video documentary of the first Community Supported Agriculture project in North America. For many years, VHS copies made their way across the country and small groups of Americans looking for a way to reconnect to local farms and local farmers followed the lead of Robyn Van En and Jan VanderTuin to create their own CSAs.
The idea was simple and revolutionary. Enough consumers band together and chip in money to fairly compensate growers for their time and land to produce organic healthy produce.
The video was co-produced by Mickey Friedman, John MacGruer, and Jan VanderTuin. For several years the video master was misplaced. But now it’s found.
In the more than 20 years, Robyn’s and Jan’s dream has multiplied a thousand-fold, and hardly anyone watches VHS tapes.
Sadly, we lost Robyn to asthma too many years ago, but Jan continues his work with innovative and appropriative technologies.
In some ways, It’s Not Just About Vegetables is an artifact, a look back into a time when Community Supported Agriculture was a dream to be made real.
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