Big Changes to Your CSA!

We are now offering great incentives for members who bring in new members. This means FREE FOOD!

Find Out How!

Dear friends, partners and members,

It is with great excitement I return pen to paper announcing big changes that have been in the works for the future of our community’s support for agriculture! Before I bring you up to date on all the exciting news, I would like to introduce myself and share the history of our CSA, that just celebrated its 25th season.

My name is Thomas Swendson and I am a dog-dad/'chef' by night and local food advocate by day. After coming to New Mexico in my early 20’s, I began a journey in our food system at the founding farm of our CSA, Mesa Top Farm.

Fast forward to 2012, I was given the opportunity to steward MoGro, a local non-profit food access group. Here I learned the importance of food access, particularly in the rural areas of our state. I cherish my years with MoGro, who continues to be a strong partner and ally in supporting our farmers.

I officially took over ownership of Beneficial Farms CSA in 2019, marking the passage through generations of our cherished food system. Carrying forward our traditions, I am honored to guide us into the future in such a spectacular community.

History of our CSA:

Beneficial Farms CSA began shortly after Steve Warshawer founded Mesa Top Farm with his college savings. A radical idea called Community Supported Agriculture came to the US in the 1980s, offering an alternative for farmers. Adopting this model, a new food system start in 1994 with one farm and 30 families.
Early Days at Mesa Top Farms

Working with fellow farmers, the CSA was able to expand and offer enough food to feed the community throughout the winter. Every season for the next two and a half decades faced challenges, but the community's support for farmers has nurtured life in a desert.

Five years ago my path came full-circle, when I began a path to help guide our CSA into the future. Understanding our food system and the role we play in it became my calling;  I committed to purchase the company and continue on our tradition.

Over the years I have taken steps to secure our future and prepare us to do more in our community. Our community has grown and the support we have is humbling. We couldn't have asked for better friends and support. Edward Whitney join our food revolution team almost 3 years ago, proving to be a committed manager and close friend.

New Mexico Harvest
Fresh Food. Delivered.

Over the years our food system has grown, and we are excited to become New Mexico Harvest!

New Mexico Harvest marks the next stage of our food system, taking the best traditions of our heritage and the steps needed to make it thrive.

Together we created a way for our farmers to have more security in their harvest and a vast collaboration to ensure their support. Our community’s support for agriculture now spans across our state, connecting us to the cultivators of our lands.

Growing our membership is vital for supporting our farmers as they grow for us.  

We have taken great lengths to ensure a smooth transition for our members and partners. Most changes have happened behind the scenes, building us up to this point.

CSA Member accounts are unaffected by this transition, your account balances and information are unchanged. This growth comes from the needs of our farmers and partners.

They want our relationship to survive and thrive, we just need more families to feed.

 
 Incentive ProgramHelp us grow and you get FREE food.We are implementing a new incentive program for our members. If you refer a new member, we will add $25 to your account as our thanks!
On top of that we will provide the new member with their FIRST FREE BAG!*  Please spread the word and help us reach our membership goal. 

Putting Down Roots Shouldn’t our food also have a little love story in it too?  

Thomas and his partner Electra just celebrated 3 amazing years together. Their journey has been intertwined with the future of our organization and shaped its future. With great excitement, they will be starting their own farm and joining the food revolution.

Preserve the Harvest Saving sunlight from summer for the darkest winter months 

Our future farm will be taking on a unique role in our future food system with a processing kitchen for our member’s foods. To ensure enough food for winter months, we will return to the homesteading traditions of old. Our farmer’s peak harvests will be preserved for delicious winter offerings, bring more value to each crop.
Thomas’ Test Kitchen video seriesMeet your farmers and know your food

We began work on a series that will let you step onto the farm, see your food as it grows and then take it into your kitchen for dinner. We want to show you how we see food, the people that nurture our land and how we like to cook it. To make all of this happen, we need to grow our community. Our target of 300 active members will give us the tools and support for our farmers to flourish.

Find Out More

Updates:
 
Inactive Member Receiving this Email:
For various reasons, your account with us was placed on hold but not deleted. Now is a great opportunity for us to let you know you're in our system. We appreciated the opportunity to show you what we are working on, and if you would like to close your account just send us an email. 
We have added a new payment option for members, using a credit card directly in your Farmingo account. PayPal has been our main credit card processing in the past, but this new option is less cumbersome if you don’t use PayPal regularly. If you are interested, you can update your payment information through your member account.

 
Getting to this point in our CSA was a difficult journey, however it united some of our closest friends, bringing out the best in our community. We couldn't have survived without the hard work of Edward, our dear friend and the man behind the  scenes. 
I am overwhelmed with gratitude for this community, the families who support us, the farmers who grow for us, the partners who work with us, and those closest who helped save us.  It is a privilege to be the steward of what we have done and what we will become.      -Thomas Swendson