Community Supported Agriculture

Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) is a relatively new concept in the United States, with the first CSA’s in this country starting in the mid-80s. The idea for CSA, which is sometimes referred to as “subscription farming,” was started in Switzerland and Japan in the 1960s. The term “community supported agriculture” is a pertinent name for the concept; in it, members of the community directly support local farms by paying a certain amount of money up front for a “share” and receive fresh produce (or sometimes other goods) throughout a season. Some CSA’s take the community support aspect to a new level, letting “shareholders” help make important decisions in the farm, or even help harvest crops. Today, there are thousands of CSA farms in North America, and the model still appeals to many Americans looking to help the environment or even delicious produce. There is currently only one CSA farm in Palm Beach County.

The goal of my project was to increase participation in the CSA program of Palm Beach County. There were various paths I could take: increase community participation, increase farmer participation, or increase both. I met with the owner of the existing CSA in Palm Beach County (at Green Cay Farm in Boynton Beach). She already had her 400 spaces filled up, and had a long waiting list. I decided that I would have to focus my project on farmer participation. This was hard too, since land in Palm Beach County is so expensive, and most of the existing farms are commercial and only harvest one crop. I grew very discouraged because I saw no way to complete my goal.

I finally called Alyssa of Palm Beach County Extension. She gave me the contact information of Darrin, the person in charge of Vegetable Production in Palm Beach County Extension. I met with the both of them to discuss my goal and to see if they had ideas to help me get back on track. They were so helpful! They suggested I do a survey at a Greenmarket so they can give it out to farmers interested in starting a CSA. They knew of a farmer that was considering starting one, and they were going to put me in touch with him.

I surveyed 43 people at the Lake Worth Greenmarket one Saturday morning, and I found some interesting things out. Almost three-quarters of the people I surveyed had never even heard of CSA, but after reading a little about it and hearing from me, more than half were interested in becoming a member of one. My research shows that having “half-shares” of CSA available along with full shares would be more fitting to the average Palm Beach County citizen’s lifestyle.

I sent my typed up and analyzed data back to Darrin and Alyssa, who in turn sent it to the farmer who was curious about CSA. Now I’m talking to the farmer about steps to start a CSA. Although I was unable to create any new CSA’s in Palm Beach County this semester, I made positive strides towards my goal by “planting the seed” for CSA in many places.