Five Loaves promotes growth on West Side

By Matt Schaefer

Bengal News West Reporter 
     When Matt Kauffman steps out his front door in the morning, he can look down Dewitt Street and see one of his 12 farm lots that are starting to develop around the area. 

     Just a short walk around the corner, he arrives at Delavan and

Five Loaves Farm includes 12 locations

West avenues, the heart of Five Loaves Farm, an urban farming project that is bringing sustainable community agricultural to what were once abandoned lots, less than a ten minute drive from city hall.

     “The main goal is to be a part of the redemptive work that is going on in the West Side neighborhoods,” Kauffman said.

     Kauffman has run Five Loaves Farm since it opened in 2012 and in the past couple years it has undergone major expansion. Kauffman has watched his farm grow from five locations to a total of 12. 

     In April, the farm acquired a third of an acre of land at its Dewitt Street location, continuing to build its acreage of once blighted land, turning it from nothing into places for the community can start to build a sustainable infrastructure.

     A farm in the middle of an urban area can catch some people by surprise.

     “It’s so beautiful.  And productive,” a passing neighbor said.

     “Yes, that’s the goal.” Kauffman added with a laugh.

Community Supported Agriculture   

     Five Loaves Farm is a part of the community supported agriculture movement, a process that promotes families to purchase shares of fresh produce for a one-time, flat fee. The produce is picked up on weekly basis, throughout the summer months, ending in late August.

     “It’s good economically,” Kauffman said.  “It gives you a secure income source and maximizes value on land, growing lots of different things throughout a long season.”

     It allows the farm to grow a lot of high value, high quality crops and sell them directly to its interested and invested customer base, who bought shares from the farm in the winter. 

     Kauffman, who graduated with an Environmental Forest Biology degree from the State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry in Syracuse, said one of the biggest challenges was growing a variety of over 75 different crops for the CSA market. 

     The farm is more than just a typical CSA model.  Five Loaves Farm wants to make sure the community is connected in everything it does.

Giving back to the community

     The farm and community go hand-in-hand, as Kauffman relies on volunteer help to make sure the farm is able to run efficiently. 

     A lot of the volunteer help comes in the form of internships, a yearlong commitment by students in the area.  Volunteers also come from the mayor’s summer youth program, associated with Jericho Road.  Other volunteers come from churches around the West Side  through the Buffalo Urban Mission Partnership.  Five students have made the commitment for the up-coming season.

     The farm also grows for local businesses and schools.  Its first season included growing for Tapestry Charter School, but has since expanded to providing for local pizzerias and The Gourmet Store, a locally run, gourmet eatery in the Olympic Towers.            

Beyond Organic

     “We call what we’re doing here beyond organic,” Kauffman said.  “No spray.  A lot of organic operations, especially the large scale ones can use all kinds of toxins on the food as long as they are organically derived.”

     The farm is focused on producing high quality food in a community that doesn’t have a lot of healthy options that are readily available.  Everything it grows is both organic and free of genetic modifiers.

     Five Loaves also took the Northeast Organic Farming Association of New York’s Farmer’s Pledge, which gives the farm the same organic outlines as organic certified companies without having the cost associated with the process of getting certified that most small start-up farms can’t absorb. 

     The farm is the new home for five chickens, which were recently acquired and being raised by Kauffman to produce free-range eggs for customers throughout the season.

     Five Loaves wants to make sure that people are taking away useful information as well as informing people of growing techniques and a way of sustainability.   

     “Our real goal is not to grow more tomatoes, but to grow more tomato growers,” Kauffman said. “We’re trying to turn people into producers instead of just consumers.”

     Five Loaves Farm opens its farmer’s market 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. every Saturday through the end of the growing season. More information on available crops, CSA pick-ups and its mission can be found on its  website.