CSA Vegetable Box Programs Growing and Evolving

Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) is an innovation in food selling and buying that has finally broken into the mainstream. These kinds of programs that usually involve a consumer signing up with a local farmer to get a weekly box of seasonal vegetables. In some cases the boxes are picked up at a farmers' market, on the farm, or they can be delivered at an extra cost. These innovative arrangement first emerged in Europe and Japan as a response to hardships experienced by local farms and farmers, and in an effort to bridge the relational gap between consumers and growers. As the interest in locally grown food has skyrocketed in recent years these programs have proliferated.

My favorite CSA in Spokane is the one from Rocky Ridge Ranch, located in Reardan. Gary and his wife So have summer, winter, and spring CSA subscriptions. They also have a meat CSA that's the best deal in town for locally, naturally raised beef, chicken, and pork. The Millwood Farmers' Market, that I help manage, is one of their two CSA pick-up sites.

As more farmers have offered these programs and they have grown in popularity there are some interesting growing pains and ethical dilemmas that are starting to emerge, both for shoppers and farmers. One regular reader of the blog lamented last summer that, after putting up big bucks for a summers' worth of vegetables, the offerings in the box were sometimes dissappointing compared to what the farmer had on display at their farmers' market booth. She discovered the uncomfortale tension that come with a direct relationship with a farmer. What do you do when you're unhappy? It's one thing to talk to the produce manager at the grocery store, which seems safe, but it's a whole other thing to file your complaints with the person who planted, nurtured, and plucked the plants out of the ground. To complicate matters, the skill-set required to be a great farmer does not necessarily lend itself to having good customer-service skills. CSA's make buying food a relational experience, which brings with it the mixed-bag of what we experience in human relationships. Here's how the unsettled CSA customer put it last summer:

But I’m wondering – here, finally, is my question – how you think we might navigate those imperfect relationships, with all of us imperfect ourselves, when we’re talking about non-negotiables, about food? In a local, relationship-based economy, there’s no room for mistakes. What happens if I have a bad day? Grocers, middlemen, long supply chains, all create room for me (and the growers) to be imperfect. How do we live without that when we’re, you know, human?

She makes a keen observation - that one of the hidden efficiencies of our long supply chains in the food system, is that they remove the human, relational element. They give the illusion of a transaction based only on price and quality, and erase the fingerprints of the farmers who grew the food. But this is only ever an illusion. CSA program that put us face-to-face with a farmer ultimately force us to give up our romantic notions, maybe the very notions that led us to sign up for a CSA, and encounter food, people, and land in new and responsible ways. In my mind, the purpose of CSA programs is the formation of community. It's an intentional complicating of life. Yes it's probably cheaper, easier, and more time-efficient to just go to Win-Co and load up your shopping cart on a weekly basis - but sometimes more expensive, more complicated, and less efficient is better. 

Which brings me to my next observation about this fast-evolving market segment. I knew we were in new territory when I saw a "CSA" program show up on Groupon here in Spokane. Full Circle Farm was offering a deal on subscriptions to their CSA program. I was surprised, because I'd never heard of Full Circle Farm, and I take pride in having my finger on the pulse of our local food system. I did a little investigating and was intrigued by what I found. I have a call into Full Circle and will follow up on this post with more details and observations when I have to chance to talk to them. 

Comments

[Hailey]

Great post Craig! My husband and I did our first meat CSA this last summer with Gary. I might have had a "romantic" idea of what I was getting us into, but I also knew that I was taking a risk. I had never tried their meats and knew that I would be paying a premium for their goods. While I could have been disappointed, I wasn't. Even if I had been, it was a risk I was willing to take. Some weeks the cooler was not as full and other weeks I was happily surprised by the bounty. It was also great chatting with Gary each week. He reminded me so much of my grandfather who was also a cattle rancher. I like the connection, I like knowing where my food comes from. But maybe that isn't for everyone or maybe it will take time for people to "get used to" this type of relationships. We all know that "change" can be hard, but I believe it is worth being uncomfortable in order to make things better. We plan on starting a family soon and I am hopefully that our children will reap the benefits of the changes I see happening in this community.

[Hailey]

Ohh...one more thing. I saw the Full Circle CSA on Groupon and bought it. Once again, I took a risk and hopfully it pays off. I look forward to see what you find out about it. The little bit of research I did on it made it seem promissing, yet the farm is on the west side so not really supporting our local farmers.

[Gary M Angell]

Thank You Hailey for your nice comments. Checked out Full Circle offer myself. They claim all product is "Local WA" yet the sample listing for the box includes Mangoes and Naval Oranges. Wonder what part of WA grows them? Have to say I'm discouraged that the local movement for CSA Programs from our local small farmers is just getting started and a Corporate Farm enterprise is already moving in to take over the local market. Heard the operators at Carnation,WA. came here from the East. Noticed on my internet browzer that there seems to be a chain of Full Circle Farms all around the country. We thought the CSA concept would be a life saver for our farm and other small farms struggling to survive locally. Looks like once again the Big Money folks are going to take over as in the past. I consider there offer to be a Counterfeit CSA.

[Gary M Angell]

Check out reviews on "Yelp" for true stories. Full Circle is not a true CSA or even a local source of food. They are a delivery service of organic food just like the organic youu can find at most supermarkets.Just Search Full Circle Farms WA on Groupon then check the reviews on Yelp.

[Hailey]

Thanks Craig and Gary for the info. See this is when doing the research really pays off. I saw the Groupon and was all excited and didn't have/take the time to really learn about what it is. Oh well...you live you learn. At the very least it is $16 spent on organic food. From now on I will stick to the Millwood Farmers Market and our LOCAL farmers! BTW...is the winter market open again? I thought I remember hearing it would be back in the youth center in March?

[Craig Sr.]

The Full Circle Farm scenario reminds a bit of bottled water. We know that the quality of bottled water is no better than tap and it is very costly. Why do we buy - because it's easy. This year, we are subscribing to two CSA's. Since there are just the two of us and we will be growing a garden ourselves, this may be overkill, but we just love the contact with our local growers. And their produce is really good. We recently talked to a couple who received some leeks from Full Circle Farms. Not a clue as to what leeks were about - alien plants. Interesting. If I go to our CSA's Whistling Train Farms or Mosby Farms, there is no mystery here. Forget "organic", a label that is quickly becoming industrialized and go local. Not only will you get the best produce there, but our community benefits as well.