Community Supported Agriculture (also called CSA or Subscription Vegetable Farming) is an innovative approach to the relationship between farmers and those who enjoy good food. With a preseason payment, members purchase a "share" of the season's harvest, a diverse assortment of seasonal vegetables each week from early June through November (See What is a share? Section).
CSA's allow growers to focus on land stewardship, to maintain productive and profitable small farms.
CSA farmers have been told by their members that they eat more vegetables than ever before now that they have a supply of truly fresh produce - even "picky eaters" enjoy the difference that fresh-from-the-field vegetables make.
How new is CSA in this country? The first one was started in Massachusetts in 1985. Today there are more than a thousand such farms in the United States. The model is believed to have originated in Japan in the 1960s.
In end-of-year surveys, members have given the following reasons for joining Heirloom Harvest CSA:
Desire for fresh, same-day-harvested produce
Desire for locally grown produce
Concern about how chemical pesticides/herbicides/fertilizer affect your health/desire certified organic
Concern about how chemical pesticides/herbicides/fertilizer affect your childrens health/desire certified organic
Concern about E coli, disease and contamination of produce from large industrial farms, whether organic or conventional
Interest in eating more vegetables/ widening my selection of vegetables
Interest in expanding what my children eat, and their choice of vegetables
To support the charitable work of Heirloom Harvest (food donation, community service and educational outreach)
Desire to support the continued existence of a local farm
Concern for the environment
Interest in developing community
Desire to educate myself and/or my family about sustainable agriculture, food production
