Keeping Ingredients Local and Fresh with Community Shared Agriculture

You revel in the fact that these staples are nurtured by members of your community; they did not travel for hundreds or thousands of miles to arrive on your plate. They were picked that morning and you can practically smell the earth they were grown in.

Next week you will do it all over again.

Welcome to the world of Community Shared Agriculture (CSA).

Many people are making changes in their lives in order to align themselves with healthier eating. For some, it means cutting down on the number of restaurant meals and sliding more vegetables into their daily diets; for others it means buying organic and/or locally grown food. One that is gaining huge popularity throughout the world is Community Shared Agriculture (also known as Community Supported Agriculture).

CSA is nothing like scurrying throughout your local supermarket, picking out vegetables and fruits stamped with the names of their native countries. Instead, the member’s involvement is integral to the overall process of a CSA operation. Although each program has its own rules and benefits, the basic concept is woven into all CSA programs.

CSA members form an agreement directly with the farmer. The member will pay the farmer up front (or in multiple payments) and then he or she will receive a variety of vegetables and fruits on a weekly basis throughout the growing period. Some CSA programs deliver the goods to the member’s door; while others have the members come out to the farm or to a pre-arranged pick up spot. For many, it is an unusual concept to interact with the growers of their food and yet it can become an addictive way of life.

In some CSA programs, the members are invited to help out on the farm, either as part of their membership or in trade for some of the vegetables. This is a far cry from gathering apples and tomatoes in your fluorescent-lit grocery stores, an excursion most CSA members are happy to abandon.

Along with the benefits of fresh, local produce, the member also shares the risks that farmers are constantly facing. For example, if one summer the weather is unseasonably cold and rainy and the tomatoes are lost to blight, then both the farmer and the customer lose out. The member is aware of this possibility when entering the agreement in the first place.

Juniper Turgeon and Alex MacKay-Smith fled the city life to open Juniper Farm close to Wakefield, Quebec, Canada. They were the first to offer a CSA program in the community. “We feel that small scale agriculture is an honorable way to contribute to society,” says Turgeon. “We are much more in tune with the elements and now more that ever feel that small scale farms and local food is very important to the health of the planet and the fabric of our communities. So here we are, offering weekly organic vegetables, community, learning, celebration and a dose of healing for our planet.”

More people are searching for healthier, locally-grown produce and as a result of this demand, CSA programs are popping up all over the world. Such a relationship between farmer and consumer is one that is becoming more and more appealing to the masses. If you want to find out about such programs in your area, the following directories will help you find who is offering this fantastic opportunity. It could become one of the most important relationships of your life.

CSA programs in the USA: www.localharvest.org

CSA programs in Canada: www.biodynamics.com

Juniper Farm: www.juniperfarm.ca