Community Supported Agriculture program now available in Lakewood Ranch

In 1999, Monaca Onstad took a hiatus from pursuing her college degree at Golden Gate University in San Francisco and assumed the helm of her family’s 2,500-acre farming operation in Guntersville, Ala.

Her father, Garry Smith, was battling cancer.

So Onstad, who was 23 at the time, drove a combine and an 18-wheeler. She managed farm hands. She climbed in grain bins and successfully led the harvest of $1 million worth of corn.

“I did it for four years,” she said. “It was the best experience of my life. I have so much respect for farmers.”

Now, as the director of community relations for LWR Communities, a subsidiary of Lakewood Ranch developer Schroeder-Manatee Ranch, Onstad hopes to re-create that farm-to-table connection for East County residents.

Since starting with LWR Communities in July 2016, Onstad has developed programming primarily for residents in The Lake Club and Country Club East, but now is expanding to Lakewood Ranch as a whole. She has forged a partnership with Punta Gorda-based Worden Farm for a Community Supported Agriculture program.

It’s called Organic Veggie Boxes. The concept is one in which individuals buy memberships to the farm and receive weekly deliveries of fresh produce during season. Pickup for the Lakewood Ranch CSA program will be from 3-6 p.m. Wednesdays for 20 weeks from December to April, at the Sarasota Polo Club. Cost is $29 per week. The full cost must be paid upfront.

The money truly is “seed money,” Onstad said.

The program benefits residents of Lakewood Ranch but is open to families outside the community as well. Individuals also can split memberships, if they don’t feel they can use an entire box.

Onstad said the benefit of a CSA membership includes getting organic produce that has a longer shelf life than produce purchased at the store. She said she believes the produce also costs less and tastes better.

“They taste how veggies are supposed to taste,” Onstad said.

She said the CSA pickup time will double as a social event in which participants can meet new people and develop relationships.

Eva Worden owns the farm with her husband, Chris Worden, and they have been selling produce at the Sarasota Farmers Market for about 14 years. “We’ve been very well established there for a long time, and a lot of people know us,” Eva Worden said.

Onstad has wanted to start a CSA in Lakewood Ranch for about a year. Her previous community, in Willowsford, Va., had a CSA.

“This was a first step in what we can do to bring veggies to the Ranch,” Onstad said.

The program eventually could expand to have CSAs for other food products.

“It has the potential to go in many different directions,” SMR spokeswoman Lisa Barnott said of the CSA. “This is just a first step. We’ll see how it goes.”

Onstad added: “The community will tell us if it will be evolved. If the interest is there, we can build it up.”