What is a CSA?

At the beginning of each growing season the farmer determines a yearly budget for the distribution costs, investments for seeds and tools, labor, and other associated expenses - for the core group of members for whom the farm has contracted to grow.  Members pay for their share of the farms produce at the beginning of the growing season, enabling the farm to purchase the materials required and line up the labor needed.   The relationship offers the individual with quality food from a trusted source and the farmer a fair and equitable compensation for products produced.  (A good CSA farmer also plans for and provides useful and appropriate activities to strengthen and enhance the member/grower relationship and each member's farm experience...)

Members of a CSA accept in advance the same risks to the harvest and their investment as the farmer faces for circumstances beyond the farmers control - and understand that refund or adjustment of membership payment cannot be made.  A good CSA farm incorporates many preventative measures and techniques to minimize the risk of crop loss - such as (and at the minimum) irrigation, row covers and tunnels for frost and wind protections and season extension, and succession planting...

History and Detailed Description of Community Supported Agriculture

CSA is a partnership of mutual commitment between a farm and a community of supporters - which provides a direct link between the production and consumption of food. CSA member supporters cover a farm's yearly operating budget by purchasing a share of the season's harvest. Membership helps to pay for seeds, fertilizer, equipment maintenance, labor, etc., and members share a commitment to support the farm throughout the season and assume the costs, risks - and the bounty - of growing food along with the farmer.  In return, the farm provides, to the best of its ability, a healthy supply of seasonal fresh produce throughout the growing season.

Equally important and what motivates us most here at Sanders Ridge Farm is that CSA reflects an innovative and resourceful strategy to connect local farmers with local consumers in order to;

• develop a sustainable and safe regional food supply and strong local economy;

• maintain a sense of community;

• encourage land stewardship; and

• honor the knowledge and experience of growers and producers working with small to medium farms.

CSA is a unique model of local agriculture whose roots reach back 30 years to Japan where a group of women concerned about the increase in food imports and the corresponding decrease in the farming population initiated a direct growing and purchasing relationship between their group and local farms. This arrangement, called "teikei" in Japanese, translates to "putting the farmers' face on food." This concept traveled to Europe and was adapted to the U.S. and given the name "Community Supported Agriculture" at Indian Line Farm, Massachusetts, in 1985.

Why Is Community Supported Agriculture Important?

• It utilizes direct marketing which gives farmers and growers the fairest return on their products.

• It keeps food dollars in the local community and contributes to the maintenance and establishment of sustainable and secure regional food production.

• It encourages communication and cooperation among farmers.

• Its membership provides a "guaranteed market" for their produce, enabling farmers to invest their time doing the best job they can - rather than looking for buyers.

• It supports the biodiversity of a given area and the diversity of agriculture through the preservation of small farms producing a wide variety of crops.

• It creates opportunity for dialogue between farmers and consumers.

• It creates a sense of social responsibility and stewardship of local land.

• It puts "the farmers face on food" and increases understanding of how, where, and by whom our food is grown.

Becoming a Food Guild/CSA member creates a responsible relationship between people and the food they eat, the land on which it is grown and those who grow it.  This mutually supportive relationship between local farmers, growers and community members helps create an economically stable farm operation in which members are assured the highest quality produce, often at below retail prices. In return, farmers and growers are guaranteed a reliable market for a diverse selection of crops.

The above was excerpted from the web site www.LocalHarvest.com and originally composed by the Community Supported Agriculture of North America at University of Massachusetts Extension.  Special thanks to the contributors to this description of CSA: Robyn Van En, CSA of North America (CSANA); Liz Manes, Colorado State University Cooperative Extension; and Cathy Roth, UMass Extension Agroecology Program.