By Kate McNeil

Just because you can get blueberries in January, doesn't mean you should, says Andy Kastner, an eco-conscious rabbinical student.

Putting his money where his mouth is, the 28-year-old Norwood resident has set out to bring a community-supported agriculture (CSA) co-op to the Hebrew Institute of Riverdale. The response? "Enormous," Mr. Kastner said. In just two months, 50 families have signed up for a share of the farmer's bounty.

And instead of fearing competition, Riverdale's two existing CSAs are putting out the welcome mat, happy that the community is catching on to the locavore movement.

"There's room for another CSA," said Leslie Boden, an organizer for Riverdale Neighborhood House's co-op. "A desire for locally grown, sustainable food is burgeoning throughout the city and certainly here in the community as well."

"I think it's a great thing," said Sister Mary Ann Garisto, founder of the College of Mount Saint Vincent's CSA. "We won't consider them competition."

Members of a CSA buy shares of a farmer's produce even before it's planted. As it ripens, the food is delivered weekly, effectively ousting middleman supermarkets and encouraging shareholders to eat seasonally.

With 85 shareholders, Riverdale Neighborhood House's CSA is the biggest, and the only year-round CSA in Riverdale. In addition to the basic vegetable share, the 12-year-old co-op offers fruit, meat, poultry, cheese, bread, eggs and milk.

But Mr. Kastner hopes to attract Jewish clientele by offering a Kosher cheese share in addition to fruit and vegetable shares. Five Spoke Creamery produces the cheese with intense rabbinic supervision using kosher rennet - the enzyme used to separate curds and whey - extracted from a young calf's stomach.

Almost all of the families signing-up for HIR's co-op are first-timers to the CSA movement. As for the HIR members already a part of another Riverdale CSA? Mr. Kastner is not pushing them to switch.

"If they've had a positive experience there, they should continue that," he said.

Beyond the tasty organic produce, Mr. Kastner enjoys creating a direct link between the farmer and consumer.