The Joys of Community Supported Agriculture

by Katrina Kazda, Sustainable Business Network of Greater Boston

For the fourth year in a row, my husband and I are taking part in a local CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) program.  In its most basic form CSA’s can be understood as an agreement between farmer and consumer to share the risks and benefits associated with each growing season.   The consumer purchases a share of the farms crop prior to the start of the growing season, providing the farmer with the early capital needed to purchase seeds and other supplies, and the security of an established consumer base for their finished products.  In turn, the consumer gets the benefit of receiving super fresh produce from a local farm/farmer of their choosing for a fair, set price once per week during the growing season.   While this benefit alone would surely be enough, the joys of taking part in a CSA extend far beyond receiving weekly deliveries of farm fresh produce.  Here are just a few of my personal favorites:

1)   Surprise!:  Every week is like a mini-Christmas.  You don’t know what you are going to get and if you are really lucky you might not even know what a particular vegetable is and then the real fun begins.

2)   Your very own chef challenge:  Every week you are handed a rich, diverse bounty of produce and each week you have to figure out what in the world to make with it.  Dust off the ole’ cookbooks and get your hands dirty!

3)   Creativity reigns:  When you have 15 different vegetables in your refrigerator and only 7 short days to use it before the next batch arrives you have to get creative.  Move over meat and potatoes! Roasted beet salad, summer succotash, heirloom tomato gazpacho… the options are endless and your body will love you for it. 

4)   Sustainability:  Taking part in a local CSA results in endless benefits to the local economy and global climate.  Most notably you are: creating jobs in your own backyard, ensuring a fair wage for your local farmers, and reducing the carbon footprint associated with non-local food delivery and refrigeration.  If you take part in an organic CSA (certified or not) the benefits are even greater.

5)   My farmer is… When taking part in a CSA you are establishing a tangible connection to the source(s) of your food and the amazing individuals that grow and produce it.  You can proudly tell your friends “These tomatoes came from Main Street Farm just one town over, and were grown by farmer Joe, he’s a real character”.  How cool is that?  In today’s industrialized food world so few of us have any idea where our food actually comes from, who grows it, what they are paid for it, and more.  Knowledge is power and if you are not aware you can hardly begin to change it.

Massachusetts is fortunate to offer a wealth of CSA’s for vegetables, fruits, dairy, meats, and even flowers, and new programs are cropping up everyday.  To find a local CSA near you check out one of these great websites: http://www.farmfresh.org/, http://www.nofamass.org/programs/csa/csa.php, or http://www.localharvest.org/csa/. 

If you need inspiration for what to do with all of those yummy vegetables, check-out one of these great CSA cookbooks: http://www.csacookbooks.com/, including The Farmers Kitchen by SBN’s own Julia Shanks!

Happy Eating! 

Katrina Kazda is Managing Coordinator of the Sustainable Business Leader Program and Membership Director of the Sustainable Business Network.  She is also a volunteer with theMOVE, a local non-profit that organizes farm volunteer opportunities for urban youth, families and individuals.  She can be reached at: katrina@sbnboston.org.