Buy through a Community-Supported Agriculture Program

Community-Supported Agriculture is a system that benefits both growers and consumers. CSA participants purchase a share of a farmer's crops for a given growing season, paying the grower during the winter to provide farmers with working capital to purchase seeds and other equipment. In return, farmers agree to provide a share of their farm products to consumers. The products can include fruits and vegetables, as well as eggs, dairy or meat products. In most cases, the farmers make weekly deliveries of these CSA shares to a central drop-off site. Shareholders come to the drop-off site to pick up their share boxes. Some farmers even offer half shares for individuals or small families.

In addition, farmers may include recipes in their share boxes to give consumers ideas on how to prepare the products they receive. And some CSA farmers host events on their farm or post regular farm updates to a blog, to help their shareholders feel connected to the farm they support.

It is important for shareholders to understand that purchasing a CSA share is not a guarantee they will receive all the products the farmer offers. By purchasing the share, they assume some of the same risks that farmers face everyday — crop damage from drought, hail, pests or disease. Circumstances beyond the farmer' control may dictate what shareholders receive in their share boxes.

At the same time, participating in a CSA is a great way to develop a relationship with a local farmer and to guarantee that fresh, local produce will find its way to your kitchen each week. Many CSAs offer products not found in a supermarket, giving shareholders a chance to try new foods.

Winter and early spring are the best times to join a CSA. Growers try to sign on shareholders early to gauge what they need to plant and to obtain working capital early in the growing season. Many CSAs begin offering spring crops in March or April. There are more than 100 CSAs operating in North Carolina today.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture estimates that North Carolinians spend $350 billion on food. If North Carolinians spent just 10 percent of their food dollars on local foods every year, it would be worth $3.5 billion in the local economy, part of which would flow back to farmers and food businesses.

There are web-based resources that can help you find CSA operations near your home. These are a few that may benefit North Carolina consumers.

Websites

The Growing Small Farms website, developed by Chatham County Agriculture Extension Agent Debbie Roos, includes several resources on CSAs, including guides for farmers, a list of CSAs by county and other links about CSAs.

N.C. Department of Agriculture & Consumer Services' Farm Fresh: Allows consumers to find CSAs sorted by region or by county.

LocalHarvest: Allows consumers to find CSAs, and other local food resources, by entering a city or ZIP code.

Food Routes: Allows consumers to find CSAs by ZIP code or city.

Carolina Farm Stewardship Association: Helps consumers search for local food resources in North Carolina by name, city or ZIP.

Start your own CSA: This guide developed by the Center for Environmental Farming Systems provides information on starting a CSA in your workplace.

Regional partners

These websites link consumers to local food resources for a given region of the state.

Appalachian Sustainable Agriculture Project: Focuses on western North Carolina counties, but has a great product finder tool.

Foothills Fresh: Six-county program in southwestern North Carolina, featuring farmers' markets, products, pick-your-own operations and agritourism.

Feast on the Southeast: Eight-county program in southeastern North Carolina, promoting local food resources through county-specific pages and a farm-to-chef guide.