Community Shared Agriculture (CSA) in an approach to growing
and purchasing food products in which the farmer and consumer
are working cooperatively. In a CSA, the farmer grows food for
a predetermined group of consumers. The consumer enters into an
agreement of purchase with the grower prior to the start of the
season. The farmer gains a guaranteed market; the consumer gains
high quality, fresh food, as it becomes available.
The Pitney Farm in Ellington, Connecticut is a CSA. At the beginning
of the season most members pay $275 for a full-share of a season's
worth of vegetables. A half-share costs $175. A work-share costs
$50 plus 50 hours of work in the garden. Most members are full-share
participants. Planning for the season begins in the winter. Money
is collected, the members decide on which vegetables and herbs
to grow, and planting and harvesting schedules are worked out.
from: Hartford Courant (date missing).
The Redwing Farm Subscription Program in Townshend, Vermont, harvests
from June through October with winter distributions from November
to February. A large share, ample for two adult vegetarians or
four or more non-vegetarians is $350; a medium share is $200;
the winter share is an additional $50. Benefits include fresh
organic vegetables, recipes, listing of the next week's produce,
Spring and Fall celebrations, reduction in packing and distribution
waste, and the support of a healthy local farm economy.
CSA's can take a variety of forms but basic to all is a farmer
and a consumer group willing to put front money into the cost
of growing produce. Both farmer and consumer share responsibility
for success and failure of the crop, cultivation practices that
produce good food year after year, and decent farming conditions.
The consumer has a better appreciation for the source and quality
of food products and the exchange of money and services is kept
in the local economy. Some CSA farms include fruit, berries, eggs,
meat and root crop storage.
In Permaculture in a Nutshell, Patrick Whitefield discusses
links between the consumer and the farm. Many organic farmers
have difficulty breaking into sales to the supermarket system
which demands standardization, high cosmetic standards, excessive
packaging, and waste. The local farmer has no bargaining power
when up against the agricultural corporations that supply most
of our food. (pg. 53) However, when an industry gets to be a giant
it can no longer respond to local conditions and offer a diversity
of products. It opens up market niches for specialized products.
It is here that the local farmer can offer a product, much as
the micro-breweries slice off regional trade from the global breweries.
Whitefield identifies variations of the CSA idea:
(pg. 53-55)
With Whitefield's concept of the CSA, the urban dweller actually owns a piece of the countryside and has a direct stake in agriculture. It serves to increase mutual understanding between the farmer and the people for whom the food is produced. Having a "place in the country" where they can go to enjoy nature, and be an active participant in the growing of food is important as well. For farmlands near urban areas that are often under pressure for development, the creation of a cooperative farm trust may be the perfect answer meeting farmer and consumer needs.