Community Supported Agriculture   

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Community Supported Agriculture consists of a community of individuals who pledge support to a farm operation so that the farmland becomes, either legally or spiritually, the community's farm, with the growers and consumers providing mutual support and sharing the risks and benefits of food production. Typically, members or "share-holders" of the farm or garden pledge in advance to cover the anticipated costs of the farm operation and farmer's salary. In return, they receive shares in the farm's bounty throughout the growing season, as well as satisfaction gained from reconnecting to the land and participating directly in food production. Members also share in the risks of farming, including poor harvests due to unfavorable weather or pests. By direct sales to community members, who have provided the farmer with working capital in advance, growers receive better prices for their crops, gain some financial security, and are relieved of much of the burden of marketing.


CSA participants in New Hampshire
From left, Betsy Gibberson, Bob Bauer, and Jennifer Ohler prepare to deliver vegetables to shareholders who joined their New Hampshire community supported agriculture enterprise, a unique cooperative of eight farms.
- Photo by Scott Franzblau.

It is a form of local support for agriculture. Subscribers pre-pay a farmer to grow the desired produce. Sometimes the farmer will select what is to be grown, sometimes the buyer selects what they want to buy, more often it is a cooperative arrangement between the two parties.

For farmers, CSA offers a fair, steady source of income and a chance to talk directly with their customers. Many CSA farmers encourage members and their families to get involved, to work alongside "their" farmer to learn more about how the food is grown. This develops understanding of the challenges facing family farmers in the community and helps create real partners in the local food system.

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[edit] Local food

For an American consumer, a tomato usually travels about 1,500 miles from where it is grown to their salad bowl. An alternative is local food, by joining a CSA farm, together with thousands of others who want to support local farmers while receiving delicious, healthy and fresh produce all season long. Your subscription buys a "share" of the produce harvest, or a weekly portion from someone you come to know and trust. Some farms also offer fruit, herbs, flowers and other products.

[edit] Benefits of a CSA

  • You know exactly where your food is coming from.
  • It is as local as you can get with out growing your own.
  • It may cut down on the embodied energy of your food (depending on what forms of transport are used and whether members make many car trips out to the farm.)
  • It makes the nutrient cycle smaller.
  • It is an educational tool.
  • Small farming can be much better for the environment than large industrial farms.
  • CSA farmers have more incentive to produce healthy food with minimal or no chemicals, as the process is more transparent.
  • Customers understand the process better, and may be more likely to accept food which is aesthetically inferior (spotted or misshapen) if they understand this is normal and perhaps a result of not using certain chemicals.

[edit] Potential problems of a CSA

  • You only get what is grown. And although you often get say in what is grown, you do not get that much say in what you receive.
  • Sometimes you get a lot of one thing that you may not like.
  • You take the risks with the farmer, so if all of the corn is eaten by caterpillars then you don't get any corn that year.

[edit] See also

[edit] Interwiki links

[edit] External links

AFSIC also has developed specific resources on this topic. They include:

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