Growers and Grocers

Community-supported agriculture programs (more commonly known as CSAs) aren’t new; they’ve been growing across the U.S. for the past three decades. It’s a simple concept - subscribers buy shares in a local farm, usually at the beginning of the year so that the farmer can use the money to invest in the year’s crops. Come harvest time, subscribers receive a portion of the crops. By helping farmers with the financial burden, CSA subscribers get an automatic “in” with fresh, local, sustainable goods without the middleman costs of store overhead and cross-country transportation.

Fair Shares in St. Louis, Missouri, and Growing Washington’s programs (Local Choice Food Box in Whatcom County and Growing Whatcom CSA Project, and All King County CSA Project) have put the CSA on steroids. Instead of investing in a single farm, these programs unite subscribers with a variety of local farmers and food producers.

During its inaugural week in April 2008, Fair Shares provided their subscribers with a pound and a half of hormone-free, grass-fed pork, a pound of organic black beans, two dozen locally-made tortillas, a pound of locally-roasted fair trade organic coffee beans, three heads of lettuce, one-half pound of shittake mushrooms, half a pound of local cheddar, a pound of fresh pasta, and a pint of salsa. Based on the annual subscription rate, this breaks down to about $50 a week with most of the money going directly to the producers.

While Growing Washingon’s CSA projects in Whatcom and King Counties operate similarly to Fair Shares, their Local Choice Food Box program in Whatcom County eliminates the surprise of CSAs. Subscribers choose 11 produce items from the varieties available, which is all organically-grown. A weekly share costs less than $40 a week.

All of these programs aim to make healthful, local food available to everyone by providing their goods and services to their communities. Fair Shares offers programs to provide discounted memberships to those in need, and encourages subscribers to donate any of their unwanted items back to the organization for food bank distribution. Growing Washington helps citizens create non-profit organizations to make Washington a better state.

Not only do these programs support the sustainable agriculture in their regions, they’re working to improve their communities on the whole. They provide business for small food producers, healthful and affordable food to subscribers, programs for the community, and less abuse on the environment. While combined CSAs are just catching on, most regions have individual farms that offer traditional CSAs. Find one in your state or province.