Growers and Grocers

I found out about CSAs or community supported agriculture through a local organic farm on Long Island near my home. The idea for CSAs originated in Switzerland and Japan in the 1960s and CSAs started showing up in the US in the 1980s. There are an estimated 1300 CSAs in North America (highest estimates at 3000).

What exactly is a CSA? A simple answer is that a CSA provides a way for the local community to support local farms. More precisely, individuals enter into a partnership with the farmer that can include many levels of participation.

Suzanne DeMuth writes in an excerpt from Community Supported Agriculture (CSA): An Annotated Bibliography and Resource Guide:

“Each CSA is structured to meet the needs of the participants, so many variations exist, including the level of financial commitment and active participation by the shareholders; financing, land ownership, and legal form of the farm operation; and details of payment plans and food distribution systems.”

The type of products available through CSAs include seasonal items such as fruits, vegetables, herbs and flowers. Some farms also offer local eggs, meat, milk, dried fruits or baked goods. The CSA I belong to asks participants to sign a membership agreement and to pay in advance for the current growing season. For the season we agree to receive a weekly share of 7-12 items but that there is no guarantee on the exact amount or type of produce. We also agree to pick up our own produce each week, to volunteer to work at least two food distributions and to help to create a more environmentally and economically healthy society.

A neighbor commented that she didn’t understand why I would pay in advance for an unknown commodity. She said that she would rather just go to the farm and buy what she needed each week. This still supports the farmer, but in a different way. By pre-purchasing our items the farmer is guaranteed an income for her efforts. The idea is that we support the local farmer and economy and she supplies us with fresh, healthy food each week. If it is a good growing week we prosper, a bad growing week we feel it too. I think of it as an investment in the future of the farm. I want my local farm to be viable and to still be there next year. I will be the first to admit that it is inconvenient to drive the half hour to and from the farm every Saturday but such a treat when get all the produce home.

The farm decides which fruits and vegetables to distribute each week. When we arrive it is usually boxed and ready for us. We select a fresh bouquet of flowers and pick up a carton of fresh farm eggs. It was rainy one week so they didn’t have any flowers for us. Another week they gave us two bouquets. Part of the benefits and part of the risk. This past week all the pre-packaged eggs had been sold, so we asked if we could collect our own eggs. The henhouse is a converted mobile home surrounded by chicken wire. They hens are free to move about and they greeted us as we collected the eggs. That day some hens were laying eggs and others were eating. Other times when we have visited the farm, the hens have been roaming around in the yard. What a great connection we have to the food we eat.

For me, the best part about the CSA is the the variety of the produce. Each week I am preparing and eating new foods with my family. When I get the food home I immediately start browsing through my cookbooks to find recipes to try with all my exotic ingredients. This week our selection included fennel, cherry tomatoes, roma tomatoes, swiss chard, peaches, and beets. Last week we brought home fennel, blueberries, new potatoes, cucumbers, purple basil, white sage, corn, and salad greens. My three year old is eating and enjoying kohlrabi, turnips and fennel…foods I did not try myself until this year.

To find out more about CSAs, and to find one in your area, check out the USDA website.