The phrase “Community Supported Agriculture” describes a business model through which a non-farmer purchases a “share” or “half-share” of a real farmer’s harvest— often before the crops are even planted.
The phrase may be awkward, but choosing local, homegrown foods is a national trend, and CSAs are gaining ground with both food producers and the food eaters who don’t have farms, but wish they could eat as if they did.
“If you join a CSA, you pay the farmer up front, before the growing season begins, which allows the farmer to pay for the seed, fuel, and other inputs necessary to farm for the year,” says Jon Frady, marketing specialist with the Tennessee Department of Agriculture.
“When crops start coming in, your fresh, local food is already bought and paid for.” This direct growing and purchasing relationship gives producers a stable income and the fairest return on their products, according to Frady. Also worthy of mention is that CSAs keep food dollars—and the beautiful farmlands where they’re produced— in the community.
“Typically,” says the marketing specialist, “the cost for a full share averages about $25 a week, but what constitutes a share depends on what the particular farm produces. The farmer usually provides a weekly half-bushel box of produce for a full share or a bi-weekly box for a half share at a convenient pick-up spot in the customer’s area.”
A spring-summer CSA share typically lasts about 25 weeks, from late May until early November, according to Frady.
“It’s increasingly typical for customers to be able to request farm fresh eggs, meats and other local foods to be included with their share,” says Frady. “Even if the farmer doesn’t produce all those products, several neighboring producers may pool their diverse products to give customers a complete range of local foods.”
Close personal relationships between farmers and their “business partners” often result, says Frady.
“Several years back, I had a couple who came to pick up their basket immediately following their wedding,” says Adrienne Gibson, farmer at “A Place of the Heart Farm” in Pioneer. “They came with their entire wedding party. We took a group picture.”
“My customers are from all walks of life,” says Gibson, “but they all have the common thread of wanting making a positive difference in how they feed their families.
“As a farmer, I really love the excitement from my customers when they receive their baskets. I also love when people’s interest carries them to coming and visiting the farm, and participating in the things we have going on here.”
Tennessee CSAs are accepting customers now. Frady says that those who are joining a CSA for the first time should have a plan for ways to use the excess fruits and vegetables that will surely arrive in their baskets. The specialist notes that guilt over wasted food is the biggest problem cited by CSA customers. Having some freezer space cleared, freezer bags on hand and some new recipes to try help assure that a typical summer’s abundance is a blessing, not a trial.
A directory of CSAs is available at www.picktnproducts.org.
Happy Holidays! The Tennessee Department of Agriculture has a gift for you: a store full of locally grown and made products you can keep inside your telephone.
Savvy cell phone users can now point their phone cameras at a “quick response,” or “QR” code, and launch an application that takes them straight to the Pick Tennessee Products website and Taste of Tennessee Online Store. Once the code has done its job, shoppers can instantly access all the local farm-direct ingredients, artisan foods, gift baskets, and even Christmas trees listed at www.picktnproducts.org.
The Taste of Tennessee Online Store is a featured section of the Pick Tennessee Products site. Holiday shopping with the online store makes local artisan foods not only easy to find but easy to send, as well. All businesses listed within the store conduct “e-commerce,” meaning items can be ordered and sent all at the same time online with a credit card.
The online store features a wide variety of upscale and specialty products in addition to Tennessee’s traditional farm fare. Tennessee produces international award winning caviar, handmade artisan chocolates, farm-direct cheeses (including goat and even sheep cheeses), fruit butters and sauces. E-shoppers can send, straight from the farm, an aged country ham, local honey or sorghum syrup, a naturally raised fresh turkey—or even a Christmas goose.
Several companies specialize in gift baskets made with Tennessee farm products. Click on the gift basket picture within the online store to go directly to Tennessee gift basket companies. Gift baskets are also an option from some other Taste of Tennessee producers who produce items like honey and jellies, so it’s worth taking a look in their online stores, too.
Many of Tennessee’s farmers and artisan food makers do not do e-commerce, but still sell and send items when contacted via telephone. The farmers and producers of these foods are not included in the online store but are listed by food category in the Pick Tennessee Products “Food” section. A number of the state’s wineries are also happy to put together and send a basket of items from their gift stores. Locate Tennessee wineries through the “Beverages” button or by clicking on the wine glass photo on the home page.
Find local, artisan foods at www.picktnproducts.org. To access the online store, click on the “Shop Now” and “Taste of Tennessee” picture. To find other Tennessee farm foods, click on the green “Food” button at the left hand side of the home page screen, and then click on any food category button. Follow Pick Tennessee Products on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/PickTnProducts and on Twitter at http://twitter.com/#!/PickTnProducts.
