CSA

Working for the Peace Corps I’ve learned a lot of acronyms…but here’s one that you may not have heard a lot about.  CSA stands for Community Supported Agriculture.  Here’s the general idea, to support local farmers, and share the risk of farming (helping to make local farming more sustainable), and get really great fruits and veggies that haven’t had to travel the average 1500 miles to your table, and cutting out the middle man directing more profits to local agriculture.  This is accomplished by individuals, families, or groups buying “shares” of a farm’s produce.  This share is paid up front with the agreement that the person/s purchasing the share will receive a proportionate amount of the harvest to their investment.  For example, if a farm sold 100 shares, and I bought 1 share I would get 1/1ooth of the harvest delivered either to my door, or to my local pick-up spot (often a farmer’s market) each week during the harvest period.  If there’s a bumper crop, I get to share in the extra.  If there’s a blight in a particular crop, I will get less, but have helped to share the risk that the farmer would normally have entirely on their shoulders.  This is an amazing way to connect back with the local land, ensure food security in our nation one farm at a time, help preserve our farmlands, and keep family scale farming more sustainable.  If you’re interested in joining in a CSA near you, check out the link at the right.