Karla Ruksys says her weekends are more relaxed now that she can do her farmer's-marketing at the office.  She doesn't run out at lunchtime or stop on the way home to Mount Ephraim. Instead, Ruksys and her colleagues at Radian, a private mortgage insurance provider with offices in Center City, joined Farm to Office.

This new kind of farm share was developed by the Common Market, a local produce wholesaler, in partnership with Farm to City, and yes, it is a trend. Workplace deliveries of fresh fruit and produce are the latest and fastest-growing strategy for people who want to eat more fresh, local produce and for employers who want to keep staff happy and healthy.

Connie Hofmann of Wayne joined a Community Supported Agriculture group, or CSA, last summer with the hope that access to a wider range of vegetables would enhance her 5-year-old daughter's appetite.

Alas, little Maeve O'Murchu still eats only cucumbers and carrots. But Hofmann, husband Colman O'Murchu, and son Liam, 8, say their CSA with Jonathan Einwechter's First Watch Farm in Lititz, Pa., has changed their eating habits for the better.

CSAs, which have been around at least 20 years, allow consumers to pay in advance for a season's worth of fresh, local produce (many operate in winter, too), delivered weekly to a central location. At the same time they give farmers seed money at the beginning of the season.

Harvest Local Foods is a service in which participants place grocery orders online and receive boxes of high quality, farm-fresh fruits, vegetables, meats, dairy products and more. High View Farm is the source of much of this amazing food. And on June 5, the two are teaming up to host a dinner on the farm, to show their buyers (and potential customers) where all those goods eats originate.

Attendees will have the opportunity to experience a working farm, meet the animals and dine on slow roasted pork, lamb and bean cassoulet and an array of fresh salads, all served buffet style. Yards Brewery is providing beer (there’ll be mint lemonade and water for the kids) and dessert will be strawberry shortcake, topped with the freshest whipped you’ll ever taste...

Harvest Local Foods

Harvest is a wonderful, Philadelphia-area grocery delivery service with a focus on organic and local foods. Every week, Harvest updates the food on their website, and lets people order online order up until 8am the day of delivery. I don’t even have to be home as I can give Harvest my key and let them drop it off inside the front door in coolers with ice packs. (Their insurance protects both them and you in case there are any problems.)...

Buying local is only a few clicks away

Situated on a tucked-away little stretch of road in Lansdowne, Harvest Local Foods (formerly Farm Fresh Express) can be a tad difficult to find. Fortunately all customers really need is a different kind of address: harvestlocalfoods.com.

From that (online) location, residents from all over the Philadelphia area can order farm fresh produce, meat, dairy, eggs and dry goods. By the time you arrive home from work on your delivery day, a cooler filled with local, sustainable goodies awaits you. For a flat $10 delivery fee, you can get as much or as little as you like.

Run by Mary Ann Ford and Pam Nelson, Harvest Local Foods has been in business for almost five years. Until recently, they operated under the name Farm Fresh Express, but thanks to the threat of litigation from food conglomerate Chiquita (who apparently felt the name infringed on their “Fresh Express” packaged salad brand), they had to make a change...