Why Bother With A CSA Share
To understand why we must bother, we must look back to the origins of CSAs.
The modern-day CSA model originated in Japan.
Here is an excerpt from Elizabeth Henderson’s Keynote for Urgenci Kobe Conference 2010, “Community Supported Foods and Farming” February 22nd, 2010 that explains it well:
“In 1971, Teruo Ichiraku (1906–1994), a philosopher and a leader of agricultural cooperatives, alerted consumers to the dangers of the chemicals used in agriculture and set off the movement for an organic agriculture. Three years later, concerned housewives joined with farmers to form the first Teikei projects. That same year, Yoshinori Kaneko realized that his family farm, besides providing for the subsistence of his own family, could also supply other people. He calculated that the farm produced enough rice for ten more families. To recruit local housewives, he invited them to join a reading circle, where they discussed such themes as “Oneness of Body and Environment,” the value of whole foods, and the healthfulness of the traditional Japanese diet. After four years of “education and communication,” in 1975, he made an agreement with ten families to provide them with rice, wheat, and vegetables in return for money and labor. Contracts between groups of highly educated consumers and farmers like Kaneko launched the teikei (“partnership”) movement which continues to develop to this day. Initially, many Japanese adherents of organic agriculture regarded Teikei as the only valid way to connect farms and their customers, but over the next 35 years as the demand for organic food increased and pressure from imports has mounted, Japanese organic farmers have had to diversify their marketing.”
There are many different ways that CSAs around the globe have adapted this model since the ’70s to cultivate community so that both farmers and consumers can benefit. For consumers, knowing where their food is coming from as well as having the opportunity to connect with the land and use their dollars to influence the landscape they live in are big reasons to support CSA programs. From the environmental perspective, there are far fewer food miles which means little transportation (pollution), a serious reduction in packaging, and more ecological practices with local-to-you farming.
When many folks support their local CSAs, regional food production is possible and grows, along with higher employment opportunities, local processing, local consumption, and local circulation of money in the community which only enhances it. As a result of supporting your local CSAs, a local distinction develops and a culture of support for regional farming can be built.
As you can see, there is REAL strength in numbers with the CSA model. It is not enough for the support of one or two folks to make it viable; it is a community effort for each household to be connected with a local farmer and bring their interest and their dollars to the farmers’ table. Without that effort, farmers will not be able to feed themselves.
It is important to understand the basis for bothering to support farmers and their CSAs. I can understand why shelling out a wad of cash would seem unreasonable, especially when you can go to the store to buy all the adulterated stuff and pay as you need it.
For one, everything I wrote above about the benefits of supporting CSA programs goes out the window with your support of the grocery store. The adulterated stuff does the OPPOSITE of what CSAs do, and even though it may go without saying, I feel strongly it needs to be said.
The adulterated stuff does NOT support a local economy or local jobs. It does NOT support local consumption. It does NOT keep dollars in the community. It does NOT support farmers of any kind, anywhere (really, I mean that). It does NOT help the environment, but only harms it. It does NOT create a distinctive local landscape, but again, the opposite. And all that adulterated stuff has travelled more miles than you could ever dream of in your vacationing.
I think it’s also worth breaking this down even more for you all to see why you absolutely SHOULD bother with a CSA share. And I want to do it right here to explain where your wad of cash goes. Before I outline this, it’s also worth noting: there will be slight variations in the way this works for individual farmers given there are differences in the way each one runs their rig.
Okay, here goes: So imagine it’s February and you’re getting pummeled with all these social media ads and posts from farmers telling you it’s now time to sign up for their CSA programs. In your head, you’re thinking “Why would I be thinking about Summer vegetables right now? I’m not ready to shell out a bunch of cash on something I’m not going to see until Summer.”
And then you ignore the flashy ads and posts and block it out of your mind. “I have more time,” you think to yourself.
So, why is it that farmers are asking so early? Why in February, sometimes in January, are they asking for you to shell out some bucks? Actually, because they need your bucks to get started as this kind of work requires a ton of planning and ground work before you can receive your vegetables in Summer.
Here’s what your support means month by month:
January: Seeds are needed to get the party started. Also, caterpillar tunnels are useful in protecting early lettuces and other cool crops to extend the season.
February: Potting soil and sowing flats, and sometimes tools are needed to get those starter plants started so you can have early tomatoes and other delightful produce ahead of schedule.
March: Weed barriers, trellising supplies, fencing, fertilizers, and irrigation parts are commonly purchased by farmers in this month.
If you buy your CSA share in any of these months, it helps the farmers get started and also plan for the season. How can we know how much to grow if we don’t have your support in these months? By April and May, when the stragglers’ cash comes rolling in for CSA shares, the farmer has already had to take on the risks in guessing how many more will sign on in order not to lose out in the long-run. And I just think: how many more risks should farmers be taking? There are already so many risks in farming. How can we get our supporters to see our side, to know why their early support is so vital to the entire year’s production?
As you can see, there are many reasons why you SHOULD BOTHER with buying a CSA Share, and as early in the year as possible so farmers don’t have to stick their necks out to guess how many will join them each year. Your support is CRUCIAL to the success of local farmers, which ties directly to the success of so many other things (a few mentioned above). Without YOU, farmers can’t do this kind of work. Without YOU, the community can’t be cultivated. Let’s grow together. There are now many (not any when we first started!) CSA programs in the area and so many ways to support your local farmers.
So, please do support them by signing up for a CSA Share and SOON! And then do show your support again, in the Summer months, by shopping the local farmers’ markets and seasonal farm stands, too!
Really, these farmers need you all the time! Let’s stop filling up grocery store parking lots and start filling up farm stand parking lots. That is where your dollars make the biggest difference!
And by the way, I love you all. I realize I’m writing to my supporters right now. Thanks for letting me explain and then rant.
Let’s take action NOW as this kind of support is vital to the future and you have a powerful role in creating change. Will you please help me spread the word? Share this writing wherever and with whomever you can because we need farm supporter numbers to grow for all farmers. We need to ensure the viability of small scale farming for the long term and YOU CAN HELP!
Thank you, thank you, thank you.
See you at the Farm Stand soon.
XOXOXO,
Jess the Farmer