When thinking of places to get produce, a grocery store or farmer’s market might come to mind. Depending on personal choice, you may pick out imported mangos from Walmart or choose local, organically raised micro-greens from Ellwood Thompson.
Most people wouldn’t think of the Weinstein JCC on Monument Avenue as their one stop shop for fruits and veggies. But on a recent stormy Thursday afternoon, that was exactly what it was when I went to collect a week’s worth of corn, blueberries, bib lettuce, onions, melon, plums, and basil, courtesy of Horse and Buggy Produce, one of a growing number of Community Supported Agriculture outlets in the Richmond area.
Community Supported Agriculture or CSA as it is more commonly called is a simple concept that is both quaint and modern, a throwback to a more agrarian past but also a signifier of a contemporary trend toward local, seasonal shopping.
Customers pay a lump sum at the beginning of a growing season which supports either a single farm or a collective of farms.
As Deb Stoneman, co-owner of Byrd Farm in Western Goochland County and founder of the Rural Virginia Market CSA, describes it: "This money offers a way for the farmer to avoid debt. They have money to buy organic seed and organic fertilizer. That way they don’t have to borrow from the bank. Also they know how much they need to plant. They are growing for a target market which leads to better planning."
This target market consists of the "share-holders" in the CSA, everyday customers who may not know how to grow a carrot but who understand the value of local, seasonal products.
These can be families of six or single men or women. Once the farm begins to produce, whether it’s vegetables, berries, cheese, or even poultry, the "share-holders" receive a weekly portion of the farm’s bounty, either delivered to their door or available for pick up at different locations in the community. In recent years Community Supported Agriculture has grown significantly in the United States, and the Richmond area has over a dozen CSA options. Some of these are single family farms while others, like Horse and Buggy Produce or Rural Virginia Market CSA consist of a number of "partner" farms.
From a farmer’s vantage point, signing on to a CSA offers a degree of security in a volatile industry.
Explains Jo Pendergraph, one of the owners of Manakintowne Specialty Growers: "While the restaurant biz continues to be our mainstay, we are keeping our eggs in more than one basket, if you will, with the markets and co-ops."
CSAs provide farmers another outlet for reaching customers, but it also links farmers and consumers on a more fundamental level. A CSA demonstrates first hand to customers the risks and rewards of local farming. If there’s a brutal drought one month, a customer may notice the results of that in their weekly share. Alternately, good weather may provide customers with an abundance of fresh, locally grown produce which they may not find at their neighborhood supermarket.
In Richmond, the growing popularity of Community Supported Agriculture is the product of a more conscious, thoughtful approach to grocery shopping. It is the logical next step of a local food movement that has been moving away from the processing plant and back to the farm. For a customer, it represents the closest you can get to a farm without actually learning to drive a tractor. As Stoneman puts it:
"You can form a relationship and come to trust the grower. It helps customers understand the difficulty of farming. It helps you learn to eat seasonally or eat vegetable you wouldn’t have tried before. With CSA you get an appreciation for how tough it is to fill a box."
With Community Supported Agriculture, unlike shopping at a grocery store or even a farmer’s market, the contents of your weekly box of produce are not assured. But for those who advocate CSA, that risk represents one of the best reasons to join. It takes the middle man out of the farmer/customer equation and links the two sides together. Customers literally and figuratively have a stake in the farm of their choosing, and there’s nothing more local than that.
For more information and a list of CSA in the Richmond area, visit http://richmondfoodcollective.blogspot.com/2009/01/local-csas.html
- Horse and Buggy Produce can be reached at 434.293.3832 or by e-mail at office@horseandbuggyproduce.com.
- Rural Virginia Market CSA can be reached at 434.842.3954 or by e-mail at abbeystone0430@wildblue.net.
- Byrd Farm is located at 6165 River Road West, Columbia, VA 23038.
- Manakintowne Specialty Growers is located at 2570 Federal Hill Farms Road Powhatan, Virginia 23139. They can be reached at 804.379.8253.
Liz Jewett is a freelance writer and Richmond native. After bouts of mistrust during childhood, she has learned to love her fruits and vegetables, especially if they’re seasonal and locally grown. You can find out more about Liz at http://lizramsay.blogspot.com or follow her on Twitter @lizj843.
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