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Home | Community Supported Agriculture | Sustainable Agriculture Internships | Educational Programs
Rounding Out the Harvest by Joining a CSA
By Pam Baxter
Daily Local News (West Chester, PA)
May 4, 2001
A couple weeks ago I was chatting with my friend Diana Rebel. "You know what I did last week?" Diana asked. "I joined a CSA. I've been thinking about it for two years and I finally did it."
"Hey, that's a coincidence," I replied. "I've got an interview next week with the fellow who runs Maysie's Farm."
"Even more of a coincidence," Diana said. "That's the one I joined."
CSA stands for Community Supported Agriculture, and it's a beautifully simple concept. A farmer sells seasonal shares in his farm. The group of shareholders helps decide what vegetables are going to be grown. The farmer grows enough of these crops to handle the needs of the shareholders, who come out to the farm once a week and retrieve their produce.
It's the ultimate win-win scenario. The farmer only grows what he has a market for and the shareholders have a six-month, steady supply of fresh, organic, locally produced vegetables.
Why am I talking about joining a CSA in a column on home vegetable gardening? Growing all our own produce requires time, energy, physical strength and sufficient space to garden in. Not everyone has all of these.
For people who want to grow their own but only have time, energy or space enough for a few tomato plants or a small salad garden, a CSA can be a terrific add-on.
There can be more to it than that. Diana bought a share in Maysie's Farm for a variety of reasons. She's looking for good organic produce, but she also wants variety. As an added benefit, Maysie's Farm offers recipes for the vegetables.
Diana is also looking forward to the community aspect of being part of a CSA. There's the weekly pick-up, plus Maysie's Farm organizes monthly potluck dinners and other group events during the year.
"I spend most of my time working outside my community," Diana said. "This will help me get back into it."
Sam Cantrell, the executive director of Maysie's Farm is a man with a mission. The five acres in Glenmoore he currently farms as a CSA are on the property he grew up on. "I wanted to find a way to keep the land productive," he says.
But his purpose goes beyond that. Cantrell's background is in conservation -he holds a degree in biology -and he believes that "conservation is education." Through his CSA, he wants to "improve public understanding of the importance of conservation and ecological thinking."
"I'd like to make people aware of the true cost of the food we buy at the grocery store," Cantrell said. He was referring to the hidden costs of the ecological damage caused by conventional farming, transportation costs and pollution, and potential health risks of consuming food containing pesticides and herbicides.
Cantrell has put a twist on the familiar "Think globally, act locally," suggesting that we "Think globally, eat locally." It can start at a CSA.
Shares at Maysie's Farm for this season are still available. Call 610-458-8129, or send email to sam@maysiesfarm.org. For a list of other CSAs in this area, contact the Bio-dynamic Farming and Gardening Association, P.O. Box 550, Kimberton, Pa. 19442, 1-800-516-7797.
Pam Baxter is an avid organic vegetable gardener who lives in Kimberton. She is editor of the Valley Forge Audubon Society newsletter. Direct e-mail to pbaxter@netreach.net.