It is called Community Supported Agriculture
Submitted By: Jody Howe (jodyshowe@comcast.net)
Updated on June 17th 2008

Challenge
How to obtain fresh, local, seasonal produce that is grown right in Contra Costa County. While the produce at the Farmer's Markets is great, some of the farmers come from more than 100 miles away. The local farmer depends on their community to remain sustainable. The CSA challenge allows the farmer to plan and grow their farms with money in advance. 


Solution Details
I spent a full year supporting two sustainable growers (with approx.14 other families). No pesticides mostly organic!!! We pay up front for a season; Feb-mid May, mid May - Aug... Aug -Nov about 10 weeks each. The price is less in winter-early spring as the crop is less bountiful. But of course this will vary with the grower, check for the updated list of CSA’s on this web site. You’ll taste the difference.


The food is delivered in bulk boxes to a home available to us from 8am-7 pm one day a week. The back yard is setup with 2 tables, a scale, and a list of members. Sometimes we leave note of thanks by our name for the farmer! It’s bring your own bags, cross our name from the list,  measure  our  portions by  scale or  pieces (i.e. in the case of  fruit , herbs, garlic, other type items) and 5 minutes later be on my way….it has been wonderful!!!! We have enjoyed and learned of different vegetables and greens that you would never get in the stores. The food of course is much fresher; picked the day before. 


csa
When introduced to the CSA way of buying we visited the farmer’s website that showed the type of veggies and fruits grown in each season. There was a bounty of food for the price plus its freshness. You can also visit farms; summer is a great time to make the trip with your kids. Just think it generally takes a few weeks from farm to the grocery store just to shelve produce. It must be 3 weeks old by then. With a family of 3 we started to acquire an overload of food unless we were entertaining. My family started to complain," I've had enough..(whichever foods) for now, can’t we get some different veggie". At this point I split the order with a fellow worker which made our share just right. 


Benefits & Payback
We are learning to cook in season making alterations to dishes, experimenting with the new veggie, enjoying the known veggies while adding more variety.  My family is starting to appreciate the change of food in seasons. We are sharing more dishes with neighbors, I even see my child starting to understand and develop a pallet for the different seasons. This is the freshest opportunity for vegetables and fruit which means highly nutritious food for my family. 


All of us have the ability to buy anything anytime of year. Think about what that takes to actually get to our markets! We are starting to see and understand there are also health reasons to eat "in the season". I also shop the Farmers market on the weekends ALL year round. Now to find a farmer closer to my own back yard. It’s only on occasion we purchase from a store’s produce section. WE’re getting to KNOW and SUPPORT OUR FARMERS!!!!!! The best part is we are choosing to support sustainable land; environmental stewartship, prosperous farming community and farm profitability.

Informational Links
What is Community Supported Agriculture?

CSAs in our area (please send an email if you know of others):
Eat Outside the Box - Walnut Creek
Frog Hollow Farm - Brentwood (fruit)

Hurst Farm on St Mary's Road - across from the little league fields is a great place to buy fresh produce grown right in Lafayette.

Great web site for finding locally grown food:
Local Harvest


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