What is CSA?

by Nicole Weston, Posted Aug 19th 2006 @ 10:33AM

If you read a lot of personal food blogs, you will occasionally here someone refer to CSA or a delivery from CSA. CSA stands for Community Supported Agriculture, a cooperative system in which goods from a farm are delivered directly to a consumer. The way it works is that people purchase the rights to part of a farmer's crop prior to the beginning of the season. Once the crops start coming in - and some farmers provide everything from vegetables and herbs to fresh eggs and meat, though most primarily provide produce - a portion of the harvest is delivered to each subscriber each week, either directly or to a central location where it can be picked up. The farmers benefit from having a direct sale, and the consumers benefit because they are getting ultra-fresh produce and supporting their community.

Because everything is so seasonal, consumers don't have a say in what they get each week. It is based strictly on the harvest, so it is possible that you will end up with some foods you don't care for in addition to ones you love.

The season lasts from April or May through October, although it may start a bit later depending on what area of the country you are from. Some farms offer year-round programs. Generally, the subscription is paid in advance, meaning that a subscriber will pay a few hundred dollars at the beginning of the season instead of paying weekly as they might at a grocery store or farmer's market. An average cost seems to be about $22 per week. Use the CSA Finder at Local Harvest to help locate a program in your area.

Filed Under: Farming, Did you know?
Tags: agriculture, america, community, community supported agriculture, csa, did you know, farm, farmers, farming, produce, season, shop, shopping, summer, vegetables, what is csa

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Reader comments (Page 1 of 1)

8-19-2006 @11:29AM Tarrant said... Did you see the CSA videoblog Cooking up a Story did? Very cool. http://cookingupastory.com/index.php/2006/08/08/food-network-community-supported-agriculture/
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8-19-2006 @12:43PM MJ said... That is a terrific idea, to have fresh just picked produce. Love it hope it is available in my area.
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8-19-2006 @3:27PM Rhea said... I was a member of a Boston-area CSA for a number of years. It's fabulous. The only reason I don't do it now is that I live alone and the weekly installments of produce are so plentiful that it is too much for one person to use in a week!
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8-19-2006 @4:23PM mike said... The CSA i'm a member of also has a work-share program. This option allows individuals to work on the farm (planting, harvesting, weeding, watering, washing produce, etc) for 4 hours a week in exchange for their weekly share...it really seems to help out the farmers with their workload, as well as build a stronger sense of community.
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