Community Supported Agriculture (CSA)
Nourish your community with a weekly produce program
Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) is most easily explained as a weekly subscription service for local produce. Members or subscribers can either sign up, join, or pay to receive a box of produce each week that can vary in size and weight. They pick up these weekly bags or boxes at the farm, a drop off location, or at the farmers market stand, depending on what is most convenient for them.
These CSA boxes and bags are filled with what is ready and ripe for harvest on the farm during that week, such as tomatoes, cucumbers, lettuce, arugula, green onions, and often an item or two that they’ve never used before!
Why Start a CSA Program?
A CSA provides seed money for your farm that can be used for crop planting. This steady stream of revenue helps determine how much to plant and what to grow based on the demand of your produce. This revenue stream is especially useful if you can’t make it to the farmers markets regularly but are looking for avenues to make a profit and connect directly with consumers who want your produce.
“More than anything, I loved how fresh the produce was from my CSA. It would last 2-3 times longer than what I’d pick up from the grocery store. I wanted to bring these local and organic veggies to our clients and my colleagues, and so we did. Seeing everyone find excitement in local produce, learn about seasonality, and utilize recipes really gave me a sense of purpose.”
~Anne Costa, HonorHealth Desert Mission Food Bank, partnered with Crooked Sky Farms
Key Considerations Before Launching a CSA Program
Create a customer base. For a CSA program to be successful, you must have a group of consumers who are regularly purchasing or have expressed interest in purchasing your produce on a weekly basis. This list can come from your website or from a sign-up sheet at your farmers market booth. You can also create a consumer base by finding and partnering with organizations and businesses that are actively looking for a farm to grow and provide produce for their group.
Plan your harvests.
This requires understanding how much you’re expected to deliver in your CSA program and any other revenue channels you are providing for. Work out a plan so that you can harvest different produce each week. Keep in mind the length of a growing season for fruits and vegetables, and what grows well given the weather conditions and other potential challenges.
Consider starting with a seasonal CSA program when harvests are most abundant or working with other growers and local food producers to supplement your CSA boxes and bags for situations when supply is limited.
Plant for your members.
Your CSA members will want a variety of produce from staples goods to more eclectic items. When you’re crop planning and planting for your CSA members - take the time to understand their preferences, what their favorite items are, what they use regularly, and what items are most coveted. When it comes to less familiar produce items, provide recipes and tips on how your members can use the product in a meal.
Create a delivery system.
How will you deliver produce week in and week out? Can CSA members pick at your farm, partnering farm, or is there a shared location or multiple locations for weekly pick up? Look for central points such as farmers markets where pick-up points can be an opportunity to strengthen our local food system and provide members with an opportunity to be connected to how their CSA produce is grown.
Reduce food waste.
In situations where harvests are abundant and there is excess produce, how will you handle the surplus and reduce the impacts of Food Loss? Work with your local food banks, which always welcome fresh, in-season produce. Donating your extra produce will ensure that you’re not only reducing your carbon footprint but you’re also helping to feed the community in more ways than one.