What is a Farm Cropshare or Community Supported Ag?

A CSA or as we like to call it, a Cropshare, is a symbiotic relationship between a regional community and their local farms. Members pre-purchase a share of the harvest and in return receive a weekly supply of fresh seasonal vegetables picked at their peak of ripeness and flavor. The arrangement guarantees the farmer financial support in the “off season,” while providing food security for the community of eaters who are invested in the success of their local food web. Supporting local small farms who, in the age of big ag, have the acute ability to maintain healthy conscious practices in a tangible way promotes local food security and aids to preserve the last of our farm land for our future generations.

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History of a CSA 

The CSA concept was first developed in Japan in 1965. The idea blossomed from a group of women concerned with pesticide use, the increase in processed and imported foods, and the corresponding decrease in the local farm population. They called it “Teikei” which translates literally as partnership or cooperation, and philosophically as “food with the farmers face on it”, or face to face agriculture. The first CSA’s appeared in the U.S. in New England in 1986. Now there are over 4,000 CSA’s in North America.