Please explain a CSA to me

mrsskiz

Im sorry I may sound really dumb, since I live in a small farming town, but my family are the only "friends" I really have and it isnt a popular topic of conversation. I am the one introducing my family members to EF products and ways of life.  I found several CSA's in my area, but I dont know how they work or what they entail. If someone could enlighten me I would be forever grateful.

Alisha_A

Not dumb at all!

CSA = Community-Supported Agriculture. This helps farms because you prepay, so farms that might not be able to produce as much or stay in business can do so. You basically buy a share of that seasons harvests, and then get weekly (or another schedule) dropoffs (may be at a dropoff point near you) or pickup your shares of various items!

 

tunanuna

To add to PP they are almost always organic, but you should check, and not all of the are the same.  They have different season lengths, and some have fall seasons as well as the summer season.  Some also offer items such as meat and eggs.  Research of your local options is important.

SuperGreen

Here's some questions I would ask your CSA.

1. Is your CSA only your products, or do you include produce/meat from other farms in the area, or somewhere else in the country? IMHO the whole purpose of a CSA is to support a single local farm, but some veggie CSAs might do meat from a neighboring farm, and some CSAs really should call themselves veggie delivery services b/c they include, say, citrus from several states south.
2. How is your produce or meat grown or harvested? Organic? Hormones? Pesticides? Meat is processed on the farm or trucked to a slaughterhouse?
3. How many weeks is the CSA, what's the cost, and when/where is the pickup?
4. How many different types/numbers of veggies can I expect in each weekly box, and how many people does a box serve?  A single tomato doesn't help much for cooking, on the flip side neither does a whole box of zucchini.  Most CSAs have a "full share" which usually feeds 4-6, or sometimes a "half share" which feeds 2-3.
5. Ask for references from previous CSA members