Community Supported Agriculture
What is Community Supported Agriculture?
Community Supported Agriculture is a relationship-based approach to growing, selling, and distributing produce and other locally produced foods. While industrial food production systems are efficient at the point of production, they give away most of this efficiency, and taste, freshness, and nutritional value, by shipping produce thousands of miles. Ultimately, we end up throwing most of it away because it goes bad before being sold at grocery stores. Food delivered in this industrialized system is relatively inexpensive because the two main players, farmers and the environment, are not sufficiently valued and compensated. The waste inherent in this system is roughly equal to the extent to which farmers and the environment are compromised and undervalued. As a result, the conventional system is not sustainable.
How it Benefits You
CSAs allow you to enjoy super fresh food with all the flavor and nutritional benefits. You get to connect with the farm that grows your food and try new vegetables along with new ways of cooking. We’ve found that children typically favor foods from “their” farm, even veggies they’ve never been known to eat. Lastly, you get to develop a relationship with your farmer and learn more about how food is grown.
How it Benefits Your Farmer
As farmers, we have the opportunity to get to know the people who eat the food we grow. Additionally, we get to spend time marketing early in the year, before we get busy in the fields. It also allows us to receive payment early in the season to have funds to purchase seeds and other products necessary to produce foods.
