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Subscribers must, in most cases, pay for membership in advance.
If a subscriber fails to collect the week’s allotment, the farmer must have a plan in place to utilize
it. Some farmers institute strict pick up times and use farmers’ markets as their pick up sites; any
shares left uncollected after a set time are sold to the public, given to organizations that feed the
disadvantaged, or divided among other members.
The week’s goods must be cleaned and divided into as many bags or boxes as there are shares. This
may entail initiating a bag recycling program with subscribers, or purchasing twice the number of
boxes as subscribers so that one is always at the farm for filling.
Planning on-farm events and subscriber work days takes a lot of planning and energy to organize.
For food safety reasons, any value-added processing must be done in an approved and certified
commercial kitchen.
Average weekly CSA costs (about $40) to subscribers may be more or less than a family’s pre-
existing supermarket produce budget, depending on their shopping habits. CSA buyers appreciate
knowing the source and practices of the grower and this may outweigh any cost differential for the
subscriber.
CSA net income for farmers is variable, and in many cases insufficient to support a family, many
hold an off-farm job to supplement their farming income.
Variations
Some growers form Collaborative CSAs, where several farm families join forces to offer a wider
variety of products, a longer season, or a steadier supply. This also allows families to share the
responsibility for taking the week’s shares to the drop-off point.
Some CSAs supply some fraction of their goods to buying clubs or brown box programs. Such
clubs or co-ops typically operate in one location, often a house or behind the scenes of a member’s
business. They acquire local produce and products for members, and usually charge a membership
fee in addition to whatever members order. Ordering is often done online or by email.
Another variant is a direct sales version where customers are not subscribers, but pre-order online
or via email on a regular schedule (weekly or bi-weekly) and pick up their orders at a pre-set
central location.
Summary
CSAs focus on the production of high quality foods for a local community. A great degree of
consumer involvement results in a stronger consumer-producer relationship. The process develops
a cohesive community willing to fund a whole season’s budget. The more a farm embraces ‘whole-
farm, whole-budget support,’ the more it can focus on quality and reduce the risk of food waste or
financial loss.