Community Supported Agriculture and Accessibility

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Issues with the CSA Program

Community supported agriculture is a long-standing idea with ties back to the early 1920s. In recent years, the programs have gained more attention and are slowly becoming more recognized as a fundamental way for individuals to access sustainability grown produce. The program enables local farmers to be supported while also allowing individuals access to fresh nutrient and vitamin rich foods. On top of those inherent benefits, many state governments are also supporting CSA by offering incentives for consumers to purchase through them such as with the EBT Double Up program. While the CSA program is immensely beneficial, there are severe limitations and restrictions with it. This is especially true when considering the primary way that CSA programs sell their produce is through CSA boxes.

Variety of Foods: The produce grown and supplied in CSA programs and boxes are a wide variety of produce that supports a diverse biosphere within the individual farm. On the other hand, individuals may not know what to do with or how to prepare the wide variety of foods provided. This can thus lead to a lot of food waste. Similarly, these pieces of produce do not amount to a meal. Instead, the individual must have the time to research meals for these to be made into. After that, the individual still needs time to actually prepare the food into the meal. As such, these boxes and programs may be difficult for busy individuals and families to incorporate into their lives.

Quantity of Food: Due to the set nature of CSA boxes, individuals can expect a certain amount of food each week. This amount, however, might be too much or too little for their specific situation. Families would certainly need more food than one individual, on either side of the situation there is an issue with the quantity of food provided. As such, those with too much either have waste associated with the food or are giving food away to others to mitigate waste but are still themselves losing the money associated with the food.

Associated Costs: The best of CSA programs run a tight budget that enables them to provide quality food and compensate above the required Federal Farmers wage. However, these come with higher costs than the standard grocery store’s produce section, especially when the majority require upfront payment for the entirety of the season’s worth of CSA boxes.

Location: This is typically a bigger issue in more densely packed areas such as large cities. Land can become so expensive and small compared to what is necessary for a farm, that CSA farmers most typically establish themselves just outside the main city area. This is problematic for individuals who do not have reliable access to transportation or may be subject to the inconsistency of public transportation.

Seasonal Availability: When farmers follow the seasons correctly, produce is only available during specific times of the year. As such, CSA programs are limited to specific seasons for specific produce. Unless the farmers implemented many different support systems to coerce a limited amount of produce through their incorrect season, then seasonal availability needs to be accounted for.

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Solutions for the CSA Program

Payment Plans: One of the biggest roadblocks for individuals is the financial expense for the CSA program. The individual can take initiative and research their local CSA farms for those that offer payment programs. This can come in many forms from weekly, monthly, or seasonal quarterly payments thus reducing the boundary of financial surplus.

EBT Acceptance: A huge game changer for including lower class citizens is to encourage more CSA farms to accept EBT payments. While many typical CSA farms are due, there are still many that don't. The inclusion of EBT as a payment option will allow many individuals to switch to CSA farms as opposed to only their local grocery store. The Double Up Program astronomically increases the benefit to participating in the program so especially look for those.

Individualized Selection: This is not to mean personalized. Rather, I’m referring to the CSA farms that have farm stands or “ordering services” both of which allow the consumer to purchase what they need and desire to the amount they need. This allows all sizes of groups to purchase from CSA programs and for people to have produce they are comfortable cooking with.

Delivery Services: Some CSA farms offer delivery services within a certain distance to their farms. This is a great opportunity to reach the greatest number of individuals including younger, older, disabled, the financially weakest, and odd scheduled. A concern to this would be a raised cost to cover this expense as well as unnecessary strain on the farms to provide the service. Both need to be watched and mitigated as best as possible.

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Alternatives to the CSA Program

Seasonal Eating: One fantastic way in which anyone, regardless of where they can shop for food, can make a significant change. Much of the produce found within grocery stores year-round are imported from many different locations. This behavior of eating without acknowledgement of the seasons puts unnecessary strain either on the soils in which the produce is forced to endure through seasons incorrectly or our air in which pollutants are spilled into to drop these foods wherever so demanded. Learning about your local ecosystem and bioregion will allow you to prioritize foods that naturally grow in the area or, more importantly, are at least in season. In doing so, you are supporting more locally grown produce.

Off Season Habits: Even in the wrong season, we have desires for certain produce. Canned and frozen produce offer an amazing avenue for which we can access the food we desire without the environmental strain associated with them in the off season. If the taste of either isn’t your preference, a great solution is to freeze your own produce while you are in season for it. Pro Tip: slice up the produce however you prefer to cook/eat it then freeze batches on baking trays before transferring to storage bags. If you use plastic zipper bags, these can be rinsed out carefully and reused when just used for freezing produce as there is very little wear and tear on them in these conditions.

Supplemental Gardens: It might be surprising, but anyone can have a supplemental garden. Even if you only have one plant of your favorite produce, you are reducing your impact. Supplemental gardens are an amazing way to support environmental growth where you are which creates individual happiness, healthier airways, and cleaner foods to consume. Starting with one plant is also a great way for you to grow more comfortable with tending to plants without the stress of a full garden. Not to mention EBT does cover any produce bearing seeds and starts.