What is a CSA?

When I tell people I joined a CSA, the question I hear the most is, "What's a CSA?"

Before I answer that question, I'll tell you why a CSA matters to me. In the English classes I used to teach, I would often organize the readings around a particular theme. In doing so, my students were able to gain a level of expertise and write with more authority (at least, that was the hope). 

One of my frequently used themes was the food industry, and how it's, you know, killing us.  But I always felt like something of a poser because I still shopped at the grocery store (and not just the outside perimeter) and bought packaged food. So I always felt like I needed to put my money where my mouth was--quite literally in this case.   

So when I read about the whole food CSA run by HighlandArt Farm, I knew it was the one for me!

Back the original question...CSA stands for Community Supported Agriculture. Basically, members of a community buy into a farm and receive shares each week all summer long. 

In my case, my money goes to support several different local farms since my farmer works with a bunch of other farmers to put together a "whole food" CSA. She offers meat, milk, yogurt, cheese, grain (bread and/or granola) coffee, and of course, veggies.

Because my family is small, I do a half share of veggies, which amounts to a small box of veggies each week, 6 lbs of meat, a gallon of milk, a quart of yogurt and a bag of coffee. I paid $400 for my veggie share and I pay $70 a week for the rest of it. Is it expensive? Yes. Is it worth it? Totally!

It's worth it for us as a family to have fresh veggies and pastured meat (more on why pastured meat matters in another post). But it's also extraordinarily important to the farmers who rely on their community for financial support. Many farmers are forced to supplement their income with other jobs during the off season. CSA farmers are less likely to rely on supplementary income and regularly report higher income levels, and therefore, they are able to focus on making their farms sustainable and profitable. CSAs also keep your dollars in your community, which helps to strengthen local economies. In addition, opting out of the industrialized food system is the best way I can think of to tell companies and government that we are capable of providing for ourselves and don't need the garbage they call food.

There are several ways to find local CSAs in your community.  Simply Google "CSA" with your county or town.  Visit eatwild.com.  You can also shop farmer's markets to support local farms and opt out of "Big Food."  Ask your grocers to supply local foods; if they know the demand is there, they will supply the goods.

For further reading on why eating local matters, check out the movie Food, Inc, based on Michael Pollan's The Omnivore's Dilemma.  Barbara Kingsolver's Animal, Vegetable, Miracle is also a terrific book with recipes and meal plans focused on seasonal foods.