Community Supported Agriculture (CSA)

[Still BLUTANG]

Hey GC!

i was wondering if any of you all participate in CSAs (Community Supported Agriculture). It's when you purchase a "share" or "subscription" of the farm's produce (sometimes flowers or even meat) for the season. Its supposedly a good way to get your local produce AND it helps the farmers economically. Depending on the CSA they deliver to your local farmers market, or you can pick it up from the farm... others even have parternships with food banks or other orgs who distribute meals to low income families.

here are some links
Eat Well Guide
Local Harvest
Maryland Agriculture

Sounds like a great thing to participate in, but I need real life feedback. Have any of you joined a CSA?



thanks!

[RaggedyAnn]

I haven't yet, but my sister in law signed up her family for the summer crops. It should help with food costs. The only thing I can see as a problem is that you get a lot of whatever is growing at the time. If you're not the kind of person who can eat the same thing for a week, you're in trouble. I guess it calls for very creative cooking.

[ThetaDancer]

This is a little different I think than CSA but...

There is an amazing program in Milwaukee called growing power that is an urban garden meant to educate the public on food sources and provide healthy, sustainable and affordable food to the community. I've ordered their "Organic Market Baskets" before and been so happy. They pack up boxes of fresh, seasonal food weekly and they can be picked up or delivered. I know they also do some work with local restaurants and schools. Anyway, I've studied this topic a bit as I'm working on my Master's degree, and I'm pretty passionate about local food sources, so if you have any more questions, I'd be happy to try to answer them if I can!