I’ve been reading up on Community Supported Agriculture (CSA). The basic premise is this-you buy a share in a CSA Farm upfront, then for the entire growing season you get a weekly “basket” of whatever vegetables are in season at the farm. Most of the CSA farms are small organic operations. Some of the farms offer half shares, where you only get produce every other week, or discounts if you help work on the farm for some prearranged amount of time. Also, some of the farms offer pick up at several locations (like a farmers market as well as at the farm) or even delivery for an additional cost. According to the information I read some farms offer newsletters and special events for their shareholders as well-like harvest festivals or meals.
According to my friend Evelyn, who has done this in the Portland OR area for the last 3 years or so, the basket is actually a rather large box. She says that you have to learn to use up whatever is in season, and to quickly process whatever you aren’t going to use for either freezing or canning etc. She also likes the fact that she has been introduced to new vegetables such as celerac and endive. Evelyn keeps an organic household, so she really saves a lot of money over buying the same produce at the local organic market.
My question is if you are looking at it from a frugality standpoint, is a CSA share cheaper than buying veggies at the supermarket or growing them yourself? I know that it depends on the cost of the share and the amount of vegetables that you get. The shares at the 3 farms around me run between $300 to $500 dollars for a 5 month period. I have emailed all 3 farms to ask what the typical contents/volume of a basket is (the actual produce will change depending on what is in season). How much of what you get can be put away for future use via canning or freezing is another variable. Then you have to take into account the amount of time, effort and money saved over trying to garden myself.
To be quite honest at this point I am not sure how financially worth it the whole thing is. On the other hand I like the idea of supporting local agriculture and eating organic produce (but not enough to spend the money on it at the regular stores). I have a feeling that in the end it is going to wind up being sort of a gut feeling sort of decision, even though I would rather base it on hard facts and math 🙂 If anyone has any experience with CSAs or advice on how to figure out the financial benefits of one please enlighten me!
If you are interested in finding a CSA in your area, you can check on Local Harvest (also you can look for farmers markets and food co-ops on there). I found three listed that are within an easy drive for me:
Sunny Hill farm in Whitney Point NY
Hilltop Daisy farm in Whitney Point NY
Pure Grown LLC in Norwich NY
There is also one in Apalacin NY, but that is a bit farther drive for me (although very convenient to the Binghamton/Johnson City/Vestal area).
I think that even if it’s not the most frugal thing, there’s something to be said for buying locally. As long as it doesn’t cost more, it’s probably worth it.
It looks like it winds up to be about $25 a week on veggies and fruits, which is more than I spend currently-even taking into account the canned and frozen stuff I buy. However, from what I’ve read, not only is the produce organic, but frequently it is of “gourmet” quality. I also can’t tell how much would be left over to put up for the winter or later (ie freezing or canning) I have a feeling this is going to be one of those learning experience, just try it sort of things.
We have a really excellent weekly farmer’s market in my city that I love to go to in the spring, summer, and fall. All of the fruits and vegetables are seasonal, locally grown, usually organic, and CHEAP. I can fill up my shopping bag with a week’s worth of fresh veggies and fuit for well under $10. I chose to do this instead of joining a CSA. Do you have an option like that where you live?
Jennifer-I live in a fairly agricultural area, but for some reason farmers markets don’t really seem to be that popular. One I checked out last summer was really more of a flea market-the only food for sale was from two mennonite families who were each selling baked goods and preserves.
There is a farmers market about 30 min away that I might check out. . . and there is a plant/vegetable place about 20 min away called “frog pond farms” that has stuff pretty cheap-but a lot of it is shipped in, not grown locally, and it isn’t organic. . .
Our local organic food coop has sold baskets too, though not in the CSA format but just individually instead. Do you believe that supporting sustainable agriculture and local families is worth the extra 15 dollars a week for your family right now? Organic carrots and potatoes a few weeks ago were horrendously priced here – $18 for 3 lbs of carrots and 10 of potatoes. Ouch. I bought them anyway, and scrimped on other things. I’d like to buy more organic than we do currently (love this planet), but we do what we can.
Jenn, I do not have the time or the ability to grow a lot of my fresh produce, so the CSA keeps us eating a veriety of foods. Additionally, our CSA basket is designed to feed a family of 4. Since my children are small, they do not eat so much, I get stuff left at the end of the week. That is usually whan I am freezing and canning. By doing this, we are just now finishing the last of our CSA veggies from December (our last drop). I did have to go and buy some too, but it is nice to go to the freezer and have a nice batch of broccoli or mizuna to cook for dinner.
Jenn,
Two summers ago, I was a live-in field hand at a small organic vegetable farm in Washington County. While we didn’t operate a CSA, we did do the farmer’s market circuit every week.
It is difficult to put a price tag on organic versus non-organic and I have heard many people blasting the quality of organic food from large farms that you buy in the grocery (saying its not too much different from non-organic). There may be some argument in that.
However, the typical CSA farm is not a massive factory farm. It provides so many benefits to the community including improving the view (and a vegetable farm usually doesn’t stink like a dairy), increasing the tax base and keeping money local. But on a deeper level, they create a culture of working with the land and the natural rhythms that is absent from so much of our society, especially when our children grow up to believe that food “comes” from a store, that meat “comes” wrapped in plastic, that milk “belongs” in a carton.
My experience with small organic vegetable farms shows that the quality of the food is at a level far beyond what is available even in store-bought organics. Often, we’ve grown up on such bland vegetables that we don’t really know the joy of tomatos or celery, for example, that hasn’t been bred for looks and portability, but for flavor. It’s an incredible difference and I don’t know if “gourmet” captures it, but its something like that.
Also, if you don’t feel that you can use all of your CSA basket, why not find some friends or family who are interested in splitting the crate?
I bought a half share (every other week) from June to October. The share is more than enough for a small family and cost $275, just $27 a week for vegetables, fruit, nuts, etc.
Not only is it financially frugal but it resonates with a morality of supporting local farmers, and agriculture. If you factor in the costs of packaging, advertising, the costs of pesticides, etc, in our store bought food, I think it’s a frugal choice financially and morally.
Henry Bemis
If frugality is not about cheapness but about thoughtful and economic spending of our financial resources then it is an excellent deal. We’ve become a nation where “is it cheap” replaced “is it of good and lasting quality or value.” Frugality is a sensibility as much as a lifestyle. Factor in the costs of the whole chain of supermarket food and you’ll find that cheap is not only not frugal but not in the best interest of your community or your family.