On our last Food Justice Friday, we took a look at co-ops, stores that are redefining the typical grocery store system. Today, we will examine another effort to connect consumers to producers within our food system: community-supported agriculture, or CSA. Keep reading to find out why you should join one and how to find a CSA share near you.
The community supported agriculture movement began in the United States during the 1980s with The CSA Garden at Great Barrington in Massachusetts. Currently, there are over 12,500 CSA farms in the United States.
A CSA is a subscription based service, where a consumer will subscribe to a share of a local farm’s harvest. In general, a CSA subscription entitles a subscriber to a weekly or bi-weekly box of produce from a local farm. However, some CSAs will also include items such as dried goods, eggs, milk, meat, honey, flowers, etc. This “mix and match” market style is becoming increasingly popular.
This community supported model comes with many advantages to both consumer and producer.
Consumer advantages:
- Exposure to fresh, local food – Because food is coming from a local farm, it is going to be fresher than food typically offered at a conventional big box store.
- More diverse fruit and vegetable consumption – CSAs encourage consumption of a variety of produce, especially since produce will be picked out for the consumer. This process can encourage subscribers can try new recipes with in-season produce.
- Community support and relationship building with local producers – CSAs are a method of bridging the gap between an average consumer and a farmer. This community based agriculture method gives consumers greater insight about how and where their food is grown.
Producer advantages
- Advance marketing – CSA shares are marketed and sold prior to the growing season, allowing for advance revenue streams and exposure prior to the busy season.
- Discourages food waste – CSAs are another method to mitigate crop waste, aside from traditional markets.
- Community support and relationship with local consumers – CSAs allow for relationship building between farmers with the people who eat the food they grow.
The CSA model is based on the concept of shared risk. In this model, members pay up front for the whole season (typically $300-$500 for four months) and the farmers do their best to provide an abundant box each week. However, this is not guaranteed. If offerings are slim or crops do not fair as well as farmers hoped, members are not reimbursed from the farm.
This risk (along with the upfront subscription payment) can discourage a food insecure household from participating in a CSA, especially if they are relying on the CSA as their primary source of produce. Some farms have worked out payment plans and/or volunteer hours in exchange for the subscription fee.
If a CSA seems doable for your household, you should absolutely give it a shot! This time of year is perfect for finding a CSA near you and signing up.
To find a CSA near you, use the Local Harvest search by using the QR code below, or visiting bit.ly/CSAsearch
