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Meet your personal farmer at Or-Gani By Daphna Berman Tags: organic farming, Netanya  At Or-Gani, a five-dunam farm located just outside Netanya, Israel's organic revolution is taking on new forms. The farm grows rows of beets, parsley, cucumbers, peppers, and other vegetables - though the harsh winter and spate of storms to hit the country have been hard on production. Like other organic farms, it sprays only natural pesticides and is careful to avoid synthetic fertilizer or herbicides. But Or-Gani is different from many of its competitors in that it is based on a relatively new farming style called community supported agriculture (CSA), a food production model that has become increasingly popular in North America, which attempts to sustain the link between the food producer and consumer. And it seems that the model is slowly catching on here. "The idea of a community supported farmer really spoke to me from a political, social, health and culinary perspective," said Yaniv Gelnik, co-owner of Or-Gani, who said he imported the model from the US, where he had lived for most of the past decade. "With CSA, there is a direct connection between the eater and the farmer." Advertisement Or-Gani was born last year, almost on a whim. Ofir Kehat, Gelnik's friend and now business partner, had begun experimenting with organic food after his new-born baby came down with a rash. They started talking about the supposed health benefits of organic food, as well as the CSA model. The idea was born soon after. "We are just two city people and I remember thinking, 'what do we know about farming and working the land?,'" Kehat recalled. "Within two weeks, we found this land, went to the Ministry of Agriculture, which gave us an adviser (on organic farming), told us what to do and we did it." The idea came about last June and by July, the first fields were already planted. Or-Gani, though based roughly on CSA, has been adapted to meet Israeli sensibilities. With CSA, members or "share holders" have a stake in the food produced by a given plot of land: if a field produces 200 tomatoes, its 100 members get two tomatoes a piece and so on. Members then come to pick up their vegetables, but if frost passes through, it could be that "share holders" are left with no vegetables at all. Gelnik and Kehat didn't think the model would translate well in Israel and so they adapted it a bit: vegetables are delivered and they supplement unsuccessful crops by buying produce from organic suppliers, so that members are never left with nothing. "It's based on the romantic image of a personal farmer," Kehat said. "The person who does the hard work is the one making the money, not the big companies or the supermarket chains. We bring the consumer closer to the small producer, closer to the source. In the industrial world, we no longer know where our food comes from." "This isn't just about organic, because you can buy in an organic supermarket," explained Gelnik, who was born and raised in Caesarea to American immigrant parents. "You need to love the idea of knowing the farmer." Or-Gani is small and the vegetables are all hand-picked, mostly by the farm's small staff though occasional volunteers from the US are also on-hand. They're also looking to expand to another plot of land. At this point, Or-Gani has about 150 customers, who receive boxes (NIS 125 for a large box, NIS 85 for a smaller one) every week, either delivered to their doorstep or brought to a collection point in a given city. In the spring and summer, they plan to open the fields to customers. "In organic farming, there is not a lot of supervision and some farmers cheat," Gelnik added. "In our case, people know exactly where their food is coming from and so if someone has a question about a tomato, they just call me and ask." Bookmark to del.icio.us   From Pyongyang N. Korea expresses hope for stronger ties with Syria. Peres in Paris Pres. tells Le Figaro Israel won't act alone to halt Iran.   1.   gotta love those gelniks 20:47  |  Eitan 07/03/08   2.   Go Or-Gani! 21:12  |  Marshal 07/03/08   3.   You guys ake me proud! 12:27  |  Noa Gelnik 08/03/08   4.   Or Gani 23:22  |  michelle cohen 08/03/08   5.   Taking the petro-middle man out of the loop 04:22  |  Morris Valentine 09/03/08   6.   Heiter 16:59  |  Yaniv 09/03/08   7.   Or-Gani 20:44  |  Linda and Onesmo 09/03/08

Today Online Palestinians: Hamas, Hezbollah cooperated on Jerusalem attack Responses: 170 Shin Bet chief: Chances of fresh Intifada are low Responses: 68 Gideon Levy: Mercaz Harav produced the rabbis who led the vilest form of Zionism Responses: 120 Editorial: Peace now, or eternal conflict later Responses: 46 Kuwaiti analyst: Best if Israel, not U.S., destroys Iran nukes Responses: 45 Jewish Agency to start anti-terror drive in wake of J'lem attack Responses: 38 More Headlines 17:41 Shin Bet chief: Chances of fresh Intifada are low 20:45 FM to U.S. envoy: Conditions not ripe for forming Palestinian state 18:03 PM okays 750 new settlement homes, says fits state policy 19:53 Soldier laid to rest after dying of wounds from ambush near Gaza 20:20 'Jenin, Jenin' director tells court film based entirely on truth 19:01 Angry students cut short Tamir's visit to stricken J'lem yeshiva 16:38 Study: Boston's intermarried 'as observant' as Reform Jews 20:21 High Court rejects petitions to overturn Ramon cabinet appointment 17:51 Report: Hamas leader says hundreds of militants trained in Iran, Syria 17:52 Likud MK to propose ban on public mourning for terrorists 12:29 Palestinians: Hamas, Hezbollah cooperated on Jerusalem terror attack 14:28 Kuwaiti analyst: Best if Israel, not U.S., destroys Iranian nukes Previous Editions Select Day 07 mar 06 mar 05 mar 04 mar 03 mar 02 mar 29 feb 28 feb 27 feb 26 feb 25 feb 24 feb

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