The federal tax rebate is going out electronically and paper checks will continue through the summer. The logic behind the rebate is for consumers to have a little extra cash in order to stimulate the economy.

If you would like this stimulus payment to make a positive difference in your local community, please consider using part of yours to purchase a share in a local Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) farm. At a CSA farm, customers pay in advance for a share of the farm's harvest. Then each week throughout the summer growing season and into the fall, these CSA shareholders go to an assigned location to pick up a box of freshly harvested produce. Some CSAs offer locally raised meats as well. The health value of eating fresh food easily justifies the cost of membership.

When you add the support to a local farm, where the farmer gets a fair price for his or her labor, and subtract the fossil fuels burned to ship food from far-away producers, the true benefits of CSA membership are fully realized.

At GardenShare we're working to build a north country where all of us have enough to eat and enough to share, where our food choices are healthy for us, for our communities and for the environment. CSA is an important part of this vision. We encourage you to take this opportunity to join a CSA near you. For a list of CSA farms operating in the north country, go to www.gardenshare.org.

When the farmers receive some of your stimulus rebate, the money will continue to circulate through our local economy, providing the spark that the engine of our economy can really use.

Heather Sullivan-Catlin

Potsdam

The writer is president of GardenShare.