A few weeks ago, my husband met someone at a local business conference who shared a very interesting concept with him: Community Sponsored Agriculture (CSA). It's kind of like Farmer's Market + Food co-op + Poker. This website explains it really well.
It works like this: each spring/summer, you pay a flat rate to participate in the upcoming growing season. That allows you to pick up weekly portions of locally grown fruits, vegetables, and sometimes meat, poultry, and eggs. Some CSA's offer different participation levels... we can choose either a 2 or 4-person share (with the former half the price of the latter). You can use the above link to find farms in your area.
That weekly pickup continues for several months. Here in Watertown NY, it begins the first week of July and ends the first week of October. And there's no way our grocery bill for fresh produce would only be $100 for that span of time. Not only are we saving money, we're supporting local farmers AND getting organic produce. This idea has "win" written all over it.
So I was curious, how many people have heard of this or tried it before? Were you happy with the quantity & quality of food you received?
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Comments (11)
there's a CSA near me. i couldn't afford the co-op fee, so i was going to volunteer as a farmhand for a share of fruits and veggies. i ended up not doing it because of school, but i think it's an awesome idea!! i hope more of these start popping up!! getting local, organic veggies and fruits is always a good thing.
I love this idea! You are supporting the local farms and getting great food to boot!
I've heard of this idea, but at the time, I was living in the dorms. This time, however, my roommate and I are signing up for that once we move into our apartment!!
Sounds like a great idea -- my sister does it and I know she loves it.
That's a great idea. I don't think we have any such operation nearby, though we should! The entire Philippines is farming country. This would do wonders for absolutely everyone.
I would love to do this and there are plenty nearby, but they are kind of expensive and I can't afford it right now.
I've heard of it before and I do know that there is a location in the town next to me. But I personally don't have the funds for it. I'd rather pay for college first.
I really want to, but the farm I want isn't that close. Maybe later I will, but I think CSA's are a GREAT idea.
I've been working at a CSA farm for the past year. We started out buying
full food shares and eventually began working on day per week in
exchange for food. we get organic eggs (free range), organic dairy
(including non-homogenized organic in glass bottles) and seasonal fruits
and veggies. I buy food for a family of six and spend far less than the
average Walmart-shopping American family of the same size... and I buy a mostly organic, 100% GMO-free diet. Supporting local agriculture is beneficial to our health for a variety of reasons, a wonderful means of supporting your local community and very eco-friendly.
I have participated in a CSA in the past, in Wisconsin. It wasn't the best choice for us for several reasons, but it did have a lot of benefits. For us, the local farmers markets were a better choice.
I've never heard of this before; my area only recently opened a public farmer's market and it's only opened seasonally. But this is an awesome idea. I'm not sure that there would be enough revenue for something like that around here, but still a definite "win".