Community Supported Agriculture (CSA)

By Lisa VanWilliams

Spring is around the corner and now is a great time to start exploring your local Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) farms. What is CSA? The USDA defines it "as a community of individuals who pledge to support a farm operation so that the farmland becomes, either legally or spiritually, the community's farm, with the growers and consumers providing mutual support and sharing the risks and benefits of food production."

You basically buy into a farm up front and receive weekly shares of the crops throughout the growing season. There are pro's and con's to being a member and we will go over a few of them. The items can include fruits, vegetables, cut flowers, herbs, honey, eggs, dairy products, and meat.

Pro's

• You are supporting the farm and cutting out the middle man. 
• Reconnecting to your local land 
• The food is as fresh as you can get, besides picking it yourself
• It's inexpensive when you average it out
• It's interactive with the community and farmers
• Hierloom produce you cant get at grocery stores
• You can find local USDA & Farmers Pledge certified farmers
• You can teach your kids about farming and fresh food
• Higher quality food
• You will learn to eat and make new things that you have not tried before

Con's

• You would be limited to the farm you choose to work with
• The food is fresh and has a limited shelf life, so it must be cooked fairly quickly
• You can enjoy all the seasonal produce
• You pay upfront all at once
• They might have requirements like volunteering
• Unexpected items, If it comes in your weekly box, it's yours and you will need to cook it. You might not like brussel sprouts, and you could get them.  
• Crops can be damaged by things like bugs, freezing weather, etc. 

If you live in Connecticut, you can go to CT NOFA to find out where your local farmers are in your area:  http://ctnofa.org/CSAs.htm

You can also look on LocalHarvest and they give locations throughout the US:
http://www.localharvest.org/csa/

Sources: http://www.nal.usda.gov/afsic/pubs/csa/csa.shtml
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Community-supported_agriculture