The Kansas City CSA Coalition ("KCCSAC") was created to: (1) promote the concept and mission of Community Supported Agriculture ("CSA"); (2) assist CSA farmers who serve the Kansas City metro with marketing, promotion, public relations, and organization; (3) help "eaters" in the Kansas City metro area locate CSA farms and secure productive annual memberships with them; (4) create and maintain a resource center for both established CSA farmers and those considering starting new CSA operations.
Created in 2008, the KCCSAC was born of a need for CSA farmers to find their market, and for local eaters to find farmers who run CSA operations. We hope to get funding via grants and fund-raisers to organize outreach as well as educational and entertaining events which will strengthen the local CSA community and enhance the quality of life both for Kansas City's farmers amd eaters. Thanks to the increased interest in local, sustainably-produced foods, the Coalition has grown to 24 farms for the 2009 season.
"CSA" stands for "Community Supported Agriculture." CSA farms were created to provide solutions to two central problems. The first was that eaters wanted a more direct connection to the source of their food and its progression from the farm to their table. As they searched for farmers willing to grow for them, it became clear that their local small farmers needed help in offsetting the risk of small-scale, polyculture farming for their local communities. So a system was created wherein a particular CSA farmer offers a set number of "shares" in his/her farm and harvest for a growing season. These shares could be offered in various sizes depending on the needs of that farmer's CSA members and the capacity of the farm. In Kansas City, the CSA distribution season generally runs from mid-May through mid-October. Most KCCSAC member farms offer "full-size" shares and "half" or "partial"-size shares, and a couple offer a smaller share yet for individuals. In general, a full-size share is around 7 - 9 items per week, and is expected to feed a family of four for a week and still allow them to eat out once or twice. A partial/half share is generally around 4 - 6 items per week, and is thought to be a good share size for two adults.
Although there are many forms of CSA operating throughout the U.S., there are basically three types of CSAs currently operating in the Kansas City metro: Shareholder, Subscription, and U-Pick. All three require that shareholders reserve and pay for their shares at the beginning of the growing season (usually by April 1). This provides the farmer with the capital necessary for tools, seeds, seedlings, fuel, etc., getting the season started on the right foot (read: not in debt). Most farmers will work with their cSA members on an individual basis if the member needs to break his/her share cost into more than one payment. Additionally, although most of the KCCSAC's member farms do not require work shifts from their members, nearly all of them do welcome volunteers. So if CSA members have the itch to play in the dirt a bit, call your farmer! They love sharing their farms and their knowledge, especially with those who have such a vested interest in their life's work.
There are several kinds of CSA offered to Kansas City's eaters: Shareholder, Subscription, and U-Pick. There is also emerging a new kind of CSA: the "corporate" or "group" CSA.
In a Shareholder CSA, shareholders are more involved in the farm operations, either through work shifts at the farm, distribution shifts, and/or work in a "core group" (generally administrative and organizational work). This type of CSA creates the highest level of member-to-farmer interaction and communication. It also can be of greatest benefit to the farmer because as there is a higher number of hands to help out with the non-farming operations, the farmer has more time to...farm!
Subscription CSAs require little to no work from their members. This could be for reasons as diverse as the distance of the farm from its members, a CSA being made up of more than one individual farm which cumulatively supply shares (therefore making organization of member work shifts more cumbersome than for most CSAs), to the farmer simply not feeling the need to share the work of farm operations. After signing up for their shares, CSA members simply pick up their shares on a weekly or bi-weekly basis.
A You-Pick CSA is one in which the member gets access to the farm's fields (sometimes getting a key upon their payment for the season), and they can then go when they like to the farm to pick their own produce, up to a certain quantity per season. This type of CSA gives the shareholders a feeling of doing some of their own "farming" by giving them a chance to get their hands dirty and harvest their own food. The KCCSAC has one CSA run this way: J-14 Agricultural Enterprises.
You can find a list of the CSAs which serve the Kansas City metro here.
(adapted from LocalHarvest.org)
There is an important concept woven into the CSA model that takes the arrangement beyond the usual commercial transaction. That is the notion of shared risk. When originally conceived, the CSA was set up differently than it is now. A group of people pooled their money, bought a farm, hired a farmer, and each took a share of whatever the farm produced for the year. If the farm had a tomato bonanza, everyone put some up for winter. If a plague of locusts ate all the greens, people ate cheese sandwiches. Very few such CSAs exist today, and for most farmers, the CSA is just one of the ways their produce is marketed. They may also go to the farmers' market, do some wholesale, sell to restaurants, etc. Still, the idea that were in this together remains. On some farms it is stronger than others, and CSA members may be asked to sign a policy form indicating that they agree to accept without complaint whatever the farm can produce.
Many times, the idea of shared risk is part of what creates a sense of community among members, and between members and the farmers. If a hailstorm takes out all the peppers, everyone is disappointed together, and together cheer on the winter squash and broccoli. Most CSA farmers feel a great sense of responsibility to their members, and when certain crops are scarce, they make sure the CSA gets served first. Still, it is worth noting that very occasionally things go wrong on a farm like they do in any kind of business and the expected is not delivered, and members feel let down. It might have been a catastrophic divorce, or an unexpected illness or death in the family. Or the weather was abominable, or the farmer was inexperienced and got in over his/her head.
In our experience, if the situation seems regrettable but reasonable a bad thing which in good faith could have happened to anyone and the CSA farmer keeps communications open and honest with his/her members, most CSA members will rally, if they already know and trust the farmer. These people are more likely to take the long view, especially if they have received an abundance of produce in the past. They are naturally more likely to think, Itll be better next year, than are new members who have nothing to which to compare a dismal experience.
The take-home message is this: If the potential for not getting your moneys worth makes you feel anxious, then shared risk may not be for you and you should shop at the farmers' market.