CSAs

Here are three little letters with big meaning:

CSA

Before I tell you what they mean, let me ask you this …

… how much do you love having fresh, organic produce for yourself and your family?

I’m imagining you’re shouting, “We love that a lot, MaryJane!”

So here’s another question …

… how much would you love having fresh, organic produce every week?

Listen up, ladies, we know that farmgirls are some of the freshest girls on the planet—

so it would make sense that our food be fresh too, right?!

Here’s where those three little letters come in.

Community Shared Agriculture aka CSA.

It has a nice sound to it, doesn’t it?

Wanna know what it means?

CSA is a way for farmers to sell shares of their crops directly to consumers. When you buy a CSA share, you are buying a portion (or a “share”) of whatever that farm produces for the season, which you get via a weekly box of what’s in season at that point.

Get it?

Here’s an example:

Let’s say you buy a CSA share from Farmer Fran, who grows lettuce, carrots, strawberries, potatoes, and some other veggies that you’ve never even heard of.

Every week, you and all the other lucky folk who’ve bought a CSA share from Fran will get a box with your “share” of whatever is ripe and ready to harvest—lettuce is ready early in the season, while potatoes will come later.

Farmers sell CSA shares as a way to increase their cash flow at the beginning of the growing season, and also as a way to involve local consumers in the realities of farming.

Why should you buy a CSA share? In addition to helping Farmer Fran, you’ll have fresh, healthy, and delicious food every week.

Makes sense, yes?

And remember those veggies you’ve never even heard of before? I bet they’ll soon be your favorites when you join the CSA nearest you. (Type in my zip code, 83843, and see how many I have in my area alone.)

Eating seasonally and locally is the goal in the long run, right?

But you’re a farmgirl—you already knew that.