CSA
Community Supported Agriculture (CSA)
What is CSA?
Community Supported Agriculture
is a system that supports the well-being of community members as well as the viability of small-scale diversified farmers. Members and farmers are asked to put in additional effort to grow and to get food. Farmers must take time out of their day to communicate with members, to explain their decisions and choices, and to plan opportunities for members to visit the farm. Members are commonly asked to pick up their shares, learn to eat unfamiliar foods, and volunteer at their distribution.
Benefits of Community Supported Agriculture (CSA)*
*Information provided by JUST FOOD, Justice from the Ground Up, www.justfood.org
Benefits to the Consumer
• Access to healthy, delicious, unprocessed food
• Knowing that your vegetables are grown sustainably/organically
• Opportunity and motivation to try varieties of vegetables you can’t get at a grocery store
• Motivation to cook more and to eat at home more
• Chance to meet your neighbors and build community
• Receive better value for your food dollar
• Opportunity to eat seasonally
• Knowledge of where your food comes from
• Having a way to vote with your food dollars for a healthy food system
Benefits to the Community
• Connections are developed between urban and rural communities
• Brings diverse groups together around food
• Keeps money in the local economy
Benefits to Farmers
• Receive financial support for the farm
• Opportunity to build a reliable, predictable group of customers
• Developing relationships with the people who are eating their food
• Less wasted food
• Provides an alternative to bank loans to get started each season
• Larger percentage of the food dollar goes to the farm
• Support for using sustainable/organic growing practices
• Ability to grow a large variety of vegetables and to try to grow new types
Benefits to the Environment
• Fewer chemical pesticides and herbicides in the environment
• Less packaging
• Diverse farms create healthy ecosystems and soils
• Less fuel is used to transport produce
• Keeps small diversified farms in business
