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Community supported agriculture gains interest If locally-grown, farm-fresh sweet corn, eggs or strawberries sound tasty, you may want to join the growing number of consumers reaping the benefits of community supported agriculture.
< On Saturday, the Madison Area Community Supported Agriculture Coalition is holding its annual open house to introduce more people to the agriculture movement, known as CSA, which seeks to create a closer link between consumers and farmers.
< In CSA, consumers buy a membership or "share" in a farm, which provides each shareholder with a weekly box of vegetables, herbs, fruit or other goods. Depending on the farm, the growing season ranges from about 22 to 33 weeks.
< "It's the most substantial amount of support they can give a farmer," said Doug Wubben, the coalition's project coordinator. "A farmer doesn't have to worry about whether someone will come to the farmers' market if they're committed to a share."
< This year, the coalition expects participation from more than 2,000 shareholders - representing as many as 10,000 people - up from 240 shareholders when the coalition began 11 years ago.
< Currently, the coalition has 14 farms offering CSA memberships, Wubben said. Other coalition farms have alternative memberships, such as worker shares, in which goods are exchanged for labor.
< A typical coalition share feeds four to five people and costs about $320 to $600 depending on the farm and length of the growing season, Wubben said. Some farms also offer half-shares or bi-weekly box loads.
< Most farms in the coalition provide drop-off points throughout Madison; others require pick-up at the farm.
< In addition, several area farms that are not members of the coalition deliver locally or offer pick-ups on-site.
< Julie Kreunen, 42, has been a CSA shareholder for seven years.
< Joining a farm "has been a really nice way to have an assured amount of fresh stuff 20 to 22 weeks of the year," she said. "As a professional dietitian, it appeals to me on another level . After 24 years growing fruit and 12 years as a certified organic grower, Future Fruit Farm of Ridgeway is now offering shares and has added "Adopt-a-Tree" Fruit CSA to its name, said owner Ellen Lane. The all-fruit farm has apples, pears, apple and pear butters and pear cider. It offers full shares for $200, as well as half and quarter shares, Lane said.
< Tipi Produce of Evansville is new to the Madison coalition, but is known to Dane County Farmers' Market shoppers for providing vegetables there for the past 27 years.
< Its owners, Steve Pincus and Beth Kazmar, decided to leave the market and offer shares because they wanted to build "more interesting and longer-lived relationships" with their customers. At the farmers' market, "there's not much time for socializing and stepping back from the immediate selling," Pincus said.
< Tipi Produce, which also sells organic vegetables to natural food stores, co-ops and some Chicago restaurants, aims to sell 100 shares this year. Pincus said he would like the CSA to account for about one-sixth of his business the first year, with the potential for additional growth.
< The farm will offer shares at $500 each for 27 weeks and half-shares with drop-offs every other week.
< Another coalition member, Tricia Bross, owner of Luna Circle Farm in Rio, is offering CSA memberships for the 11th year.
< Bross said she "loves doing the CSA," because she can provide her members "with a connection to where food is grown, who's growing it and what they're eating."
< Like most of the other producers, Bross encourages members to visit the farm and holds potlucks and get-togethers at planting and harvest time.
< Seeing a 3-year-old girl "discover that food grew in the dirt was an amazing experience," she said. "For weeks she was asking her mom about where things grow."
< Although Bross said the majority of her business comes from two farmers' markets, she has 40 to 50 shares available this year for $375 each. Her farm provides 20 weeks of vegetables and herbs and is in the process of cultivating strawberries and raspberries.
< The coalition also provides subsidized memberships for low-income or elderly people looking to join one of its farms, Wubben said. The Partner Shares Program covers half the cost of a membership and allows participants to pay in increments rather than up-front.
< A raffle at the coalition's open house will help raise money for the program. There will also be cooking demonstrations and opportunities to meet the farmers and members.
< Contact Stephanie Turner at sturner@madison.com or 252-6158.
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Copyright
© 2003 Wisconsin State Journal
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