Community Supported Agriculture

by Marilyn Meller and Jim Sluyter

One of the fundamentals of community economics is access to locally grown produce. A relatively new concept for organizing the distribution of produce is known as Community Supported Agriculture (CSA). The community supported farm can be set up in differing ways to accommodate many situations but there are common themes.

What is Community Supported Agriculture, and where did it come from?

Central to the philosophy of the community supported farm is the commitment of members to share the risks of agricultural production with the growers: why should the person who provides something as important as food have to take all the risks? Members purchase a share of the harvest before the growing season begins and pick up their share weekly after it starts. Vegetables are the main product, but some farms offer fruit, eggs or even meat. A community farm may be owned by individuals using CSA concepts as a marketing tool, as we do. Often, however, the farm starts in the opposite way: a group of people seeking quality produce get together, hire a farmer and purchase land in a fully cooperative venture.

Community Supported Agriculture arrived in the United States in 1985 when Robyn Van En decided to implement it at her Massachusetts farm. Community Farms have been established in Europe and Japan (where they are called Food Guilds) for some time. The bio-dynamic farming movement, a form of organic agriculture based on the work of Rudolf Steiner and Ehrenfried Pfeiffer has embraced the concept and many CSA's operate within this framework.

Good for the Farmer, Good for the Consumer, Good for the Land

The farmer is relieved of the burden of marketing produce at just the time when the energy needed for crop production is at its greatest. The CSA farmers concentrate on farming, on what they do the best. Money is available for seeds, fertilizer, and equipment when the purchases need to be made, avoiding the need to borrow money to start up the season.

Members receive both concrete and subtle benefits from involvement. While spending from $175 to $500 for vegetables which are not even planted yet is difficult for some (both financially and emotionally) membership is generally a bargain in the long run. Each week during the harvest season members receive an interesting variety of the freshest possible produce. Since community farms typically use organic growing techniques, members' concern over chemical residues is alleviated. Membership in a community farm provides a link to food production impossible for the supermarket or even the "farm stand" shopper to achieve. Members see their vegetables growing, watch them form and ripen, sometimes even get dirt under their fingernails working in the gardens. They can develop a personal relationship with the farm and the farmer. Their children can become more connected with the earth and the process of raising vegetables.

Community farms are virtually producing all organically grown vegetables. The land is treated with the respect it deserves as the base of the entire operation. In all operations -- pest control, tillage, fertilization -- the effect on the soil is considered. We view the earth as a living being and the soil as the basis for human life. All CSA's are small within the context of modern agriculture, and many are very small indeed. The family farm certainly has a place within the movement. They tend to be energy efficient, with much "hand work" and little energy expended in distribution.

How we got started

We have been gardening on our land since we moved here in 1988. Most of our 20 acres is wooded and hilly so we cultivate only a small portion. Both gardeners by nature, we assumed that in some way we would grow vegetables for people. We had no illusions that conventional market gardening would work for us here as we have no "farmer's market" nearby and we weren't interested in specialty crops. Our search for "right livelihood" included a season growing flowers for bouquets which were beautiful but not very marketable. Then Marilyn came up with the CSA idea, a concept we first read about in a magazine article in 1990. We were excited to find that when we talked about the farm, people were enthusiastic and many were interested in joining!

We started Five Springs Farm in the summer of 1994 with just 10 shares as we had only a limited amount of garden space ready for cultivation. Our soil is of marginal quality at best (we think of it as little better than blow sand), so we began an intensive soil building program using horse manure and cover crops, such as rye, buckwheat and various kinds of beans. Once they are tilled into the soil these cover crops break down, releasing nutrients and aiding in the production of humus (a process called "green manuring"). Our goal is to sell 30 shares in 1995 and 40 by 1997 and thereafter. A single share is suitable for one person or perhaps a couple. Families are advised to purchase two shares. We expect this to be all that we can handle on the acre or so which we cultivate. This will provide the bulk of our income at a level which a friend has aptly described as "low impact".

We adhere to strict organic standards though we have so far opted to not be certified. Certification has not seemed necessary even though access to organically grown fresh vegetables is the most important reason to join our farm. Since the farm members know and trust us there has been no need for "official" documentation of our practices as yet.

The CSA experience on our farm

Farm members come to the farm each week and pick up a share of vegetables. The morning of pick-up, we harvest all the vegetables that are ready and divide them into the number of shares purchased. Members do not purchase specific vegetables but rather a share of each week's harvest. A midsummer harvest included cabbage, broccoli, carrots, beets, swiss chard, kale, new potatoes, green beans, snow peas and basil. A diversity of crops assures a variety of food each week and protects farmer and member alike from the consequences of crop failures. Anyone who gardens knows that each year has its problem crop, almost inevitably balanced by exceptional yields of something else. Last year we had total failures of parsley and corn but great production of green beans, tomatoes, basil and various greens. The member shares with us in losses in one area and with bumper crops in another.

Our goal is to have a small but worthwhile harvest by June 1. Last year this included kale, lettuce, green onions and radishes. As we get better at "stretching" the season we hope to have larger harvests and more variety even earlier in the season. Quantity and variety increases until mid-summer and then tapers off by mid-October. Last year's family shares each got a total of 265 pounds of fresh, in season vegetables. They also took a bouquet of cut flowers home most weeks. Usually there was a newsletter explaining what was going on in the gardens as well as providing recipes and general advice. The newsletter was fun for us and many members commented on how much they enjoyed it.

We felt that our first year was a great success. Our gardens were more productive and the process of producing food more enjoyable than ever before. Most of the members from 1994 have signed up for another year. We like to think of this as a way to feed our friends and neighbors high quality food and make a living at it. Comments like "we didn't know how good vegetables really taste" "with all the food scares these days, its wonderful to know where and how your food is grown" "we're happy to have you growing our vegetables and love everything you produce" were typical. Also rewarding was the joy people took in coming out to the farm and wandering in the gardens.

What is the future of CSA

It seems such a useful marketing tool for many farmers and offers so much to the consumer that we can only expect the movement to grow. A new quarterly newsletter for CSA's called Seasonal News is evidence of growth and organization. Most are located near urban areas, but we expect that even in our rural area there will be more demand than our small operation can handle. We look forward to the time when anyone who is interested will have access to a community farm near them.

Marilyn Meller and Jim Sluyter, 3480 Potter Rd., Bear Lake, MI 49614 (616) 889-3216, live and operate their farm on alternative energy, solar and wind. Jim makes stained glass windows and helps Marilyn, who is the primary farmer.

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This page posted to the SAAN site Feb. 16 1998