June 21, 2025 – Susan Greene

About 15 years ago, a friend asked me if I wanted to split a CSA share with her. We both had young families with four children, and I had no idea what she was talking about.

What is a CSA?

CSA stands for Community Supported Agriculture. It is a system of commerce where a farm sells a certain number of shares of what they produce, and the consumer buys into a share for a specific size and span of time. Back when I first joined, we did a peak summer full share, and every other week we got to go to the farm to pick up a box of seasonal vegetables and fruit, sometimes herbs, sometimes flowers. It is a way to guarantee that the farm has a reliable income for a season regardless of weather or climate changes, but it also guarantees the consumer fresh, local products every week.

Some personal benefits for my family is that being a member of a CSA brought us closer to our food. Before I joined the farm, one of my daughters would not eat vegetables, but right away started eating the spring peas from the carton, in the car on the way home. That expanded throughout the summer and by the end of the first season I had a full vegetable eater. Also, through my CSA I have come to appreciate new vegetables that I would not have sought out in the grocery store, like delicata squash, kholrabi, garlic scapes, or pattypan squash. Another benefit is that I have become aware of so many varieties of CSAs through promotions from my farm. I have been a member of a seafood CSA, meat and poultry CSA, even a wine CSA, Lastly,, the farm makes “just past” vegetables available for a discount so I can make sauce, or for canning.

Flexibility is key

One of the first things I do whenever I move is seek out a CSA for my family. I recently joined a new one near my hometown, and we not only had some pouring rains in the spring, we also experienced greater and greater drought throughout the summer. This impacted some of the available crops from the farm, and I regularly got apologies from the farmstand for not having much lettuce. We never felt that there was something missing from our share, we always had enough vegetable and fruit to get through the week. This is the beauty of the system, in a normal sales model, the farmstand may have suffered for not having enough lettuce, but with the shares, they have the income needed to get through the season,

Flexibility is key because it is not like making a grocery list and going to get what you planned. You show up each week to collect your share, and are unsure of what will be inside. I am able to build the meal plan around my share, rather than build my grocery list around my plan. My farm also has a shop, so I can buy other local items like beef, pork, frozen pastas, dairy, and other farm produce, as well as other items like candles, pantry items, and flowers.

Not for everyone, but farms are better

I strongly advocate for CSAs, but I also am realistic enough to know it is not for everyone. While I understand if someone resists the membership, shopping at your local farm is always the best idea. The cost of eating at home in April 2025 was 2% higher than the same time in 2024. That number changes when grocery shopping for specific items like beef (+12.6%), or eggs (+73.8%). Shopping local may not greatly impact the price of such items, although my farm had eggs all winter, but going to a farmstand or farmers market also saves on how much fossil fuels are needed to get from farm to table.

If you are interested in joining a CSA or finding a local farm near you here are some resources: