Preserving Small Family Farms

That's the crux of this interesting piece in the Hartford Courant this week about the growth of community-supported agriculture (CSA) in Connecticut.  As family-owned farms have struggled to make ends meet in this day and age, many of them have begun selling shares to local households in exchange for weekly bushels of fresh produce.

My boyfriend and I are experimenting with something similar here in Boston this summer - a half share in a Cape Ann fishery that gives us about 1 pound of fish per week through the summer.  Our main impetus for this is to eat healthier, trying to phase out the red meat and phase in more fish.  We purchased a half share mainly because of the upfront cost, which is $180 for 9 or 12 weeks (I forget).

The sample shares in the Courant story gave me mild sticker shock too, even as I understand the exponential benefits to buying locally, eating more veggies, getting to know your local agricultural system, etc. etc.  It makes me wonder, how does CSA address issues of poverty and hunger - beyond stabilizing the farms? (No small accomplishment, of course.)

Surfing around, I see that CSA is its own anti-poverty and food justice strategy.  From the anti-poverty and anti-hunger NGO Why's website:

Connecting with each other over the week's fresh eggplants and the best soup recipes builds community along the way. CSA can then be a great entry point to get people talking to their neighbors across race and class about food justice issues.

A priority of many CSA initiatives is to bring healthy food into low-income communities. Through various pricing options -- including spreading out payments over time, work shares, sliding-scale prices, accepting food stamps and selling shares to food-assistance agencies -- low income CSA members often get the greatest produce bang for their buck (or for their food stamps).

Well-managed CSA can be the beginning of real food system change for everyone from the lowest income member to the farmer. With just a pickup site, a willing farmer, and active community organizers, CSA can bring just-picked, delicious produce to an area where vegetables are scarce -- making CSA a relatively simple change to a neighborhood's food system, as compared to opening a market or grocery store.

When I read this description, it sounds to me like a tangible anti-poverty strategy that involves strong management and coordination: aligning multiple partners, organizing shareholders, managing payments - including government subsidies, getting food into local communities, bridging racial/ethnic, urban-rural and other cultural divides.  All this on top of actual farming!

But beyond our root responsibilities of a) shifting existing anti-poor, racist, gendered, xenophobic ideologies, b) challenging our existing capitalist system, and c) building cross-class, cross-cultural coalitions to carry out our work, what's left but the actual, logistic, administrative nature of anti-poverty programs?  No sweat!  ;)

It takes a lot of effort to ameliorate hardship and build level spots on a very unequal playing field.  I'm intrigued by these CSA initiatives and their potential to reduce hunger, increase access to fresh food for low-income communities, build community, and provide some economic stability to small, local farms.  Now that's a tall order!

Let us know about your own experiences with CSA or other food justice initiatives.

(Searching "community supported agriculture" of Flickr generates countless lovely images of food!  Here's a pint of strawberries in honor of the summer months!  Photo by thebittenword)

(Guest blogger Greg Plotkin is traveling this week.)