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Field Report: Community Sponsored Agriculture

By Micaela Colley, Research Farm Manager

Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) is rapidly growing across the country (and worldwide). Participants are recognizing that CSA is not only a viable marketing option for farmers and a healthy alternative for consumers, but also an important movement toward local, environmentally sound agriculture. CSA is an arrangement whereby customers pay a share or "subscription" price to the farmer in exchange for a portion of the upcoming year's harvest. The arrangement provides the grower money in advance to cover operational costs, guarantees the sale of the produce grown, and secures a fair market price by eliminating the middleman. CSA provides consumers with the freshest produce available on a weekly basis, sometimes even delivered, and brings with it the assurance of knowing how and where their food was grown.

How it works:
CSA growers establish their members prior to the growing season. Members can be found through placing an ad in the local paper, advertising at farmers markets, or by word of mouth. The share price is usually determined by creating an annual operating budget for all costs, including labor, land, seed, water, etc. Then, the total cost is divided by the number of shares to set the subscription price. The goal is to ensure that the amount produced will be sufficient to provide a reasonable return to each member. Generally the planting is designed to provide for a family of four. Some CSA farms offer half shares for singles and couples. Share prices usually run in the ballpark of $300-$600/season. Often, optional goods, such as flowers, will be offered at an increased share price.

Each week the harvest is divided up among the shareholders. Delivery arrangements vary from shareholders picking up their boxes at the farm, to meeting at a designated location in town, or even door-to-door service. The trick is for the grower to plant so that there is enough diversity in the offering each week and sufficient quantities of each item to make it worth including in a meal. This requires careful planning. Many crops, such as greens and roots are planted in succession to extend harvests throughout the season.

Environmental Stewardship
In today's world, dominated by industrial agriculture, our food travels an average of 1,300 miles from field to table. This distance between producer and consumer offers little accountability. For example, because the production is not in our own backyards, we are often unaware of the negative environmental impacts of industrial agriculture. For the increasing number of people concerned about the environment and looking for ways to make a difference in their own lives, CSA's offer a sound alternative.

In addition, CSA brings consumers and their families in touch with local seasons and teaches them about how their food is grown. With less than 3% of the population farming in the United States today, the vast majority lack awareness of seasons and cycles of produce, especially with internationally imported produce filling in the gaps in availability. Moreover, many people don't realize how good truly fresh produce tastes. Rebecca Spector, head of the Center for Food Safety, writes, "By connecting directly with the farms and farmers growing our food, we can gradually make a shift from being a passive consumer to becoming a more active one, one who takes the time to know the farmer growing our food and to learn about the ways in which that food is grown."

Community
CSA farms extend the farming community, cultivating what Wendell Berry calls "The Agrarian Mind". by involving members in the production of their food. Many farms host member workdays, or offer work-trade options for shareholders. Some farms host an end-of-season harvest party and offer opportunities to visit and to tour the farm throughout the season. Some communicate farm events through a weekly newsletter dropped in each share box. A link is created between the farmer and shareholder. Together they agree to share the triumphs as well as the risks of farming. Together they celebrate the bounty, but also suffer the crop failures

In a recent Seeds of Change interview with Bill Mollison, a founder and leader of the worldwide Permaculture movement, he commented on sustainability of food production, stating, "Establishing local food systems should be a priority," and "Food needs to be grown very close to where it is consumed". Mollison comments, "You should be able to look out your window and see your food being grown." Having traveled and lectured extensively throughout the world and having observed food systems in many countries, Mollison reports that in Japan a primary method for marketing food is through consumer-producer cooperatives (the equivalent of CSAs). Consumers know their farmers and farmers know their consumers. "They know their children's birthdays. They support each other like crazy. You'll never win them away from each other," he remarks. It is inspiring to think of the potential strength a CSA relationship can create in our own communities.

Economics
Growers face fierce competition in the marketplace. Produce from industrial agriculture, coupled with imported produce grown with marginal wage labor, doesn't factor in costs to the environment, and creates artificially low prices in the marketplace. With the decline in family farms, which are unable to compete, we have to ask ourselves if we want to retain the culture of small-scale agriculture in the United States. CSAs are one answer to that question. They represent an agreement between grower and consumer that whatever it takes, we'll grow our food hereŠat home, in our own community. Keeping money local supports local economies. For the grower, it provides an economically sustainable return with up-front capital and direct marketing. It ensures a fair price for both parties. As Wendell Berry states in the closing chapter of Fatal Harvest, "We must confront, on the ground, and each of us at home, the economic assumptions in which the problems of conservation originate". Community Supported Agriculture does just that.

Additional Resources for Growers and Consumers

University of Massachusetts Extension Services, CSA Information:
www.umass.edu/umext/csa
This Extension Service site offers information about CSAs and an extensive list of resources and publications on the topic.

Alternative Farming Information Center:
www.nal.usda.gov/afsic/csa
A cooperative effort of Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service, the National Agricultural Library, and the US Department of Agriculture, this site hosts a comprehensive database to locate CSAs by state. May be used to find a CSA near you! Also available is information about CSAs, lists of publications, and links to related organizations and websites.

Robyn Van En, Center for CSA Resources:
www.csacenter.org
Robyn Van En is an organization dedicated specifically to the support and development of CSAs. The site offers a national CSA farm directory, CSA conference information, resources, publications, and even technical support.

Biodynamic Farming and Gardening Association:
www.biodynamics.com
Site provides information on health and ecological aspects of CSAs. The site also has lots of practical information about figuring costs, information on training and apprenticeships, and even examples of garden plans.

ATTRA, Appropriate Technology Transfer for Rural Areas:
www.attra.org
Information about the marketing aspects of CSAs.