Comments on: Community Supported Agriculture

By: Sara G

Sara G — Fri, 02 May 2008 17:11:01 +0000

1 pound of Kale, .5 pound Arugula, 2 heads of field? lettuce, bag of asparagus, bag of sprouts, 6 eggs, and a small bottle of maple syrup.

Not bad for so early in the spring. They said something about strawberries next time.

By: Anna

Anna — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 05:17:10 +0000

Sara G:

The sort of program you describe is not unusual outside of the USA. I opened an online account with a similar program in London (Abel & Cole), to supply my mother-in law with fresh delivered produce. While technically not a CSA, that sort of program can be very good for farms that aren’t large enough to have their own CSA, or don’t raise enough variety to have their own CSA, or prefer not to do it but want to get closer to their consumers, etc.

As long as there is transparency about what they are and are not, it’s disappointing that that sort of thing creates controversy. Hope you enjoy the produce and getting in touch with the seasons.

By: Sara G

Sara G — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 20:43:57 +0000

I just joined a local produce program. There has been some controversy about them lately because the people who run it are acting like a distributor for over 100 Mennonite farms and not a farm themselves. I don’t have a problem with this as they are very open about what they are doing and what produce comes from where and which is organic and which is not. It will still save me a ton of money versus Whole Foods (and I’m by no means anti-Whole Foods, just pro-keeping some of my paycheck for other things).

By: Anna

Anna — Sun, 27 Apr 2008 16:39:53 +0000

I’m also a Be Wise Ranch CSA member in the San Diego area, for over two years. Wish I had joined years earlier. We just had the first cost increase since we joined, a few dollars a box, which seems very reasonable. I expected an increase at some point, with the rising fuel costs, etc. so I wasn’t surprised or unprepared for the increase.

A neighbor and I take turns picking up our share boxes, which saves fuel, too.

I guess I hadn’t noticed the increase in organic produce prices at the stores until I started seeing headlines about it, because with so much of our produce needs met by our CSA membership, I breeze past the produce sections of stores now, rarely even stopping to look long enough to notice the prices.

CSAs are a great value, IMO, and a great antidote to veggie boredom. Even if CSA produce cost the same as store produce, I would still get CSA stuff because the cost goes direct to the producer, which is better for the local economy. My CSA membership also save shopping time for me.

I’m also locking in my meat costs for this year by buying a half bison (grassfed, of course) from a ranch in Montana that makes periodic deliveries to the San Diego area.

By: charlotte

charlotte — Sat, 26 Apr 2008 21:08:23 +0000

Thanks for the shout out guys! And yes, we LOVE love love our CSA. All that great, economical food and they are so interactive with the community. My boys get to see where our food comes from and even “help” out with the harvests. Plus I get tips from the pros for my own little garden.

Sonagi - the community gardens are a fantastic idea! We fell in love with them when we lived in Germany. Another good idea for people with limited space (and I think Mark & Co. have covered this) is container gardening. Tons of books about it and works quite well.

By: Sonagi

Sonagi — Sat, 26 Apr 2008 17:42:53 +0000

I believe the first CSAs were established in Japan back in the 70s.

In this morning’s local paper, I read that an experimental farm associated with our state arboretum is providing rent-free farm plots to local families and organizations in exchange for participants sharing some of their harvest with local food banks. I’ve wanted to have a small garden but currently live in an apartment. What a great opportunity to grow Asian vegetables not available at my local supermarket.