Community-Supported Agriculture (CSA)

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What is it?
Customers buy "shares" in a local farm in exchange for produce, sometimes delivered to your home. CSA farms can be anything from your typical vegetable or fruit produce to meat and fish. You should receive your share of the harvest about once every week during the harvest season. Some CSAs deliver a preselected box of produce while others allow their shareholders to brows through what's available that week (if you don't like onions like me, this is a plus). You get to meet your local farmers and even establish connections with and through them, and that becomes a feeling of "we're all in this together, we're all helping each other".

How does it affect those involved?
Farmers:
~Get to spend time marketing the food early in the year, before their 16 hour days in the field begin
~Receive payment early in the season, which helps with the farm's cash flow
~Have an opportunity to get to know the people who eat the food they grow

Customers:
~Eat ultra-fresh food, with all the flavor and vitamin benefits
~Get exposed to new vegetables and new ways of cooking
~Usually get to visit the farm at least once a season
~Find that kids typically favor food from "their" farm – even veggies they've never been known to eat
~Develop a relationship with the farmer who grows their food and learn more about how food is grown

Cons: If there is a bad season, the customers may find that their share is a little small. Or, if only one crop fails they had better like the other kinds of produce they receive.

Questions you should ask:
What does this farm sell?
How long has this farm been a CSA? How successfull are their harvests?
What kinds of farming practices are used to boost yeilds and combat pests and diseases?
When does the harvest season start and end?
How often are shares distributed?
How much food is in a typical distribution?
Where are the pickup locations, and is delivery an option?
Is produce pre-selected, or can the shareholder choose from the harvest?
Is a work-share option available (work for the farm in exchange for shares, instead of purchasing a share)? What kind of work is expected and how often?

How to find a CSA near you
www.urbanfarm.com/CSAlist
www.localharvest.org
http://national.marketmaker.uiuc.edu
www.nal.usda.gov
Ask vendors at your local farmer's market, because many vendors are diversified in their marketing and do business not only at farmer's markets, but also via CSA shares and roadside produce stands.