Community Supported Agriculture (CSA)

A CSA is a network of consumers who support a local farm by buying a "share" of their produce. This usually means that they pay up front directly to the farmers to receive a regularly-occurring share of food. The type of share can range from just fruits and vegetables to include meat, dairy, and other food. The shares are sometimes delivered, and other times you pick up your share from a pick-up location.

A good source for more information on CSAs is local harvest (http://www.localharvest.org/csa/). On their website you can search for CSAs available in your area. This summer will be my first time trying out a CSA; we are getting a half-share, which means pick-up is biweekly, and it will be just fruits and vegetables.

From an environmental perspective, buying local has been emphasized as a way to cut down on greenhouse gas emissions. Most food travels quite a distance to arrive at your grocery store (I think I've heard the average is 1500 miles). Even though I have very limited experience with them, so far I think joining a CSA seems like a good idea. However, I think a focus on local food should be combined with reducing the impact of an even bigger polluter in food consumption: meat. I've heard that reducing meat consumption can actually have a bigger impact and may be easier in some cases. For example, reducing meat may take less work on the part of the consumer; it may be easier to just avoid meat here and there rather than take the time to make sure all produce is local or enroll in a CSA. I do still think buying local is a good idea and still beneficial. The best case scenario would be to try to buy local AND cut down on meat consumption. In the case of joining a CSA, these may go hand in hand because one is likely to need a steady supply of vegetables for all those new vegetarian dishes! This is why I like the concept so much- its like committing up front to eating a lot of vegetables or else you waste your money. I should also mention that there are other benefits to a CSA such as supporting local farmers, rather than industrial agriculture, supporting farming that might be more likely to use organic, sustainable practice, and being better connected to where your food comes from and how it is produced. Plus you buy direct and get to meet the people that actually grow the food!

*Updated with pictures of actual CSA produce. These are little turnips. I love seeing all the irregularities of vegetables that haven't been mass-produced.