What is Community Supported Agriculture?

Pick up a week's worth of fresh local vegetables. Grab your box at the farm and within minutes you're home. Little effort spent to access healthy flavorful fresh produce.

Joining a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture Farm) is one of the most convenient and reasonably priced ways to eat locally. Not only do you enjoy just-harvested flavor, you get a direct connection to a specific farm, know your producer personally and can see how the food is grown.

CSA is a direct farm to consumer system eliminating the middleman. Most of your food dollar is spent to grow the crops instead of being divided between distribution, marketing and transportation. This reduces the carbon footprint of the food we eat. Produce does not travel thousands of miles needlessly burning fossil fuels and increasing pollution. There is no elaborate and unnecessary packaging. Joining a CSA supports the local economy and encourages the preservation of farmland and open space.

Members receive what's ripe and seasonal. A spectacular array of both common and rare fruits and vegetables. Heirloom tomatoes, Italian Roma tomatoes, fresh butter beans, cone head cabbage, rainbow carrots and Toscano black kale are just a few examples. Small farms have the advantage of growing the fruits and vegetables for exceptional qualities of aroma, flavor, color and texture. Varieties of produce grown for supermarkets are selected for their bouncibility, shipping well, and an extended shelf life.

Becoming a CSA member also means accepting some of the risk of farming and a willingness to lend a hand. Extra help is welcome during planting, weeding and harvesting, or members can be involved by planning and promoting a festival day or potluck at the farm. Many parents are interested in having their children visit the farm to see where their food comes from and enjoy the outdoors.

Science supports that eating whole foods has the greatest health benefits. Take this opportunity to make positive lifestyle changes, develop better eating habits and enjoy hands-on experience on a farm.