Community Supported Agriculture and Farmers' Markets

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Stephanie

Stephanie lives in Culpeper, Va. where she enjoys hiking in the Shenandoah National Park. She has always enjoyed being outdoors, either hiking, camping or working in her garden. She has a website, www.always-outdoors.com where she explores these topics and also writes reviews for various outdoor products.

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Latest posts by Stephanie (see all)

9 Easy Foods To Prepare For The Holidays - December 17, 2011
How Green Roofs Can Help The Environment - September 10, 2011
Community Supported Agriculture and Farmers’ Markets - August 11, 2011

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Local Farmers' Market

How You Can Help Local Farmers Stay In Business

We are all eager to support the small businesses in our local community. Who hasn’t been saddened by the demise of small locally owned stores when the big box stores move in? Farmers as well as retailers struggle to maintain their farms as the big supermarkets arrive in town. But there are ways that you can help.

Not everyone can have their own vegetable garden in their back yard. They have to rely on buying from supermarkets that offer food products that have been shipped across country or even from other countries. Now there are two ways that allow the consumer to receive fresh produce directly from the farmer that grew it. Those two ways are Community Supported Agriculture and Farmers’ Markets.

Community Supported Agriculture

Community Supported Agriculture or CSA puts the consumer and the producer (the farmer) together before even one seed is planted or one field plowed. Here’s how it works.

The customer buys a share or subscribes to a local CSA farmer. The money is paid to the farmer up front and he uses it to buy seed, fertilizer and for any other overhead he might have.
The buyer is then entitled to a specified amount of the farmer’s produce when it is harvested. The amount is delivered in a box to a central distribution point once a week. Some subscribers like to pick up their own produce at the farm itself.
There is a shared responsibility between the farmer and the buyer which develops a sense of community. If the harvest is plentiful, there is more to share among the subscribers, but if it is not so good, the shortage is shared also.
The CSA movement is a plus for city dwellers. They can get freshly picked, healthy vegetables delivered to a central location near where they live. The prices are lower because there is no middleman.
Some CSA farms

also offer shares of homemade bread, eggs, chickens or flowers.
The farmers often sell to local restaurants or at farmers’ markets. Any leftover produce is often donated to local food banks.

Farmers’ Markets

Farmers’ markets help to keep small family farms in business. The markets are usually set up in a park or parking lot in town one or two days a week. Here are some of the reasons why you should support your local farmers’ market.

The food sold at the farmers’ market was most likely picked fresh that morning. You can’t get much better than that! Image some fresh peppers or zucchini grilled on the gas grill on your deck.
Many of the farmers employ organic practices when growing their crops. If it says “organic” you can be sure of pesticide free produce for your dinner table.
Since there is no middleman, the price is usually lower. Because the products usually travel less than 50 miles to market, there is a saving in fossil fuels too.
Farmers’ markets also offer flower and craft vendors a place to display and sell their products. It’s a lot of fun to stroll among the various booths at your local market.
Meat is also available. There are often free range chickens and grass fed beef as well as homemade sausages to choose from.
It’s important to understand the labels on meat that is sold. A USDA label means that the meat product was processed in a government inspected slaughter house. If the meat is purchased from the slaughter house for resell, it will say on the label “Distributed by/Packed for”. If the vendor takes his own meat to the slaughter house, the label will not have the designation “Distributed by/Packed for”. If the vendor does their own processing, it will not have a USDA label.

Please consider frequenting your local farmers’ market and perhaps partnering with one of the CSA farmers in your area. You are helping small family farms stay in business and preserving the natural resource of farmlands.