It may be encumbered with a name that only a midlevel bureaucrat could love, but community-supported agriculture (CSA) continues to be one of the fastest-growing trends in the local foods movement.
Here's how CSAs work: In the spring, consumers buy a share in a farm's output. Their investment is repaid through the summer and into the fall in the form of a frequently delivered package of just-picked produce, its contents dependent upon what is available for harvest. There could be tomatoes in August, for example, depending upon the weather and farming conditions. Or not.
"It allows consumers to share in the bounty, and share in the adventure, of farming," said Aaron Blyth of Marine on St. Croix's Big River Farms, a nonprofit that operates a CSA and trains newcomers through an incubator farm program. "It also allows farmers to get to know their customers better, and vice versa."
Plans vary among farms, but expect to pay between $300 and $700 for a growing season that typically lasts between 18 and 22 weeks, with weekly or biweekly deliveries.
Some crop shares concentrate solely on vegetables, while others include fruits, berries, honey, eggs, flowers, cheese, soap and other farmstead products. Deliveries can be made to central drop points (churches, restaurants, natural food co-ops) or directly to the homes or businesses of shareholders. Some farms have on-site pickups. Many CSA farms invite their shareholders to the farm for events or work days, while others maintain an off-limits rule.
Learning the ropes
It's complicated, but one way to learn more about the ins and outs of CSAs takes place Saturday. As it has done for the past 11 years, Seward Co-op in Minneapolis is bringing together an ever-growing number of CSA practitioners — this year's tally is 30 — under one roof (a tent in the store's parking lot), allowing consumers to meet-and-greet with farmers directly. (See box for details.)
That growing number of CSA Fair participants is a reflection of the practice's exponential growth. The Minnesota Department of Agriculture's Minnesota Grown program has been tracking CSA programs for more than a decade.
In 2003, it listed five CSA farms. In 2008, the number had risen to 26. This year it's 93. That means that, conservatively, several thousand Minnesota households are participating in crop-share programs.