5 Reasons Why our CSA PROGRAM Support OUR Farm
There are an abundance of reasons for you to join a CSA program: convenience, new cooking experiences, and eating healthier, to name a few. But today, I feel inspired to write about why CSAs matter to us and our farm so much!
First, what is a CSA? Kind of a non-descript acronym, CSA stands for Community Supported Agriculture. The idea was born when communities shared the upfront costs of running a farm and, in return, shared in both the abundance and the challenges of the season. CSA programs have evolved over time and look different from farm to farm, but they usually take the form of a weekly subscription to a farm's produce.
For our program, members opt in and pay weekly when they pick up their share of 5–7 seasonal items. For the farm, it provides guaranteed sales. For customers, it offers a discounted rate on produce and a chance to build a deeper connection with where their food comes from.
At its core, a CSA is an invitation to eat with the seasons and experience farming as it really is. Some weeks are overflowing with tomatoes and basil. Other weeks, a cold snap or pest pressure changes what ends up in the share. Members share in both the abundance and the unpredictability of farming alongside us.
Okay, back to the juice.
It creates stability.
Excess food still gets eaten and paid for. Customers experience the ups and downs of the farm alongside the farmers instead of participating in a market that can feel like a weekly gamble. A CSA is an incredibly efficient sales system—it has some of the benefits of wholesale while still allowing us to sell directly to our community.
2. It supports a more diverse farm.
A CSA allows us to grow more than just the crops that sell best at market. Instead of focusing only on the most profitable items, we can grow a wide variety of crops that make a share exciting and abundant. Without CSAs, many farms would be incentivized to grow only the highest-selling crops. CSAs give us the freedom to grow the weird, seasonal, and deeply flavorful things that make local food exciting. Potatoes and watermelons, for example, might not always be our highest-value crops, but they add so much to a CSA share and give us more reasons to diversify our crop plan and our farm.
3. It creates built-in community.
Farming can be lonely. Having people dedicated to visiting the farm each week and supporting the food we grow means a lot. We genuinely love seeing our CSA members every week. One of our favorite things is wandering into the garden with customers and sharing what is happening on the farm. Over time, members become more than customers. We learn what you love to cook, your kids' favorite vegetables, and get to celebrate the seasons together.
4. It reduces waste.
No matter how hard we try, there are always leftovers after a farmers market. With a CSA, we know almost exactly how much to harvest, making it a much more efficient system. Every bunch of carrots or head of lettuce that already has a home is one less thing at risk of being composted simply because it wasn't sold in time. And the vegetables still get picked up—even when it's raining.
5. It encourages a truly local food system.
CSA members are often people who live near the farm and want to invest in the place they call home. That's what this is all about: feeding our local community. Not feeding the world. Feeding our neighbors.
WHAT’S COMING THIS WEEK
Visit our Farmstand on at the farm Mondays 4-6:30!
Fresh vegetables get delivered to the Avocado Shack every Monday!
Find us at the Morro Bay Farmers Market every Thursday 2-4:30!
This week’s vegetable forecast includes:
Roots: walla walla onions (sweet white spring onion), Carrots, Purple mini onions, Fennel, Radishes, Beets
Greens: Mellow mix (lettuce blend), Spinach, Arugula, Pea Shoots
Herbs: Sage, Thyme, Oregano, Zaatar oregano, Tarragon, Dill, Cilantro
Heads: Endive Frisée, Bok choy, Head lettuce (oak leaf, red and green)
Zucchini and Broccolini!
As always, it is a joy to sit down and write some thoughts down. What a pleasure that you read them.
Your farmers,
Jake and Jesse :)