A Cooperative Model for
Community Supported Agriculture
By Jude Wait
Interested in eating locally grown produce, supporting sustainable agricultural, helping to ensure a fair living for farmers, keeping your food dollars local, celebrating nature, building soil, conserving water, engaging in community cooperation and securing a resilient future? Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) offers opportunities to accomplish all of the above while helping to bring together community members, farmers, and agricultural land in mutually supportive, sustainable relationships.
Currently there may be as many as 2,000 CSAs in the US, and within this growing movement operations vary widely. Some are started by community groups, and some are farmer-initiated, direct marketing strategies where members also supply some labor.
Here in southern Oregon local farmers and producers in the communities of Ashland and Talent are joining together to provide members with a wide variety of locally grown, farm fresh vegetable, fruit and specialty food products through a new CSA program. Three farms—HappyDirt Veggie Patch, Meadowlark Family Farm and Village Farm—encompass ten acres on five different sites. Together, these farms, along with a few other smaller farmers, are organizing a CSA program that will work for everyone. Within this cooperative effort, the farmers can specialize, growing what is best suited to the micro-climate and soil type of their location.
CSA programs work best when they are consistent with the community character. The group initiating this cooperative is two dozen strong, and represents many sectors with specialists in organic farming, ranching, worker training, permaculture, mycology, horticulture, food preservation, distribution, wildland ecology and value-added food production.
“We’re putting our dreams into action,” Chris Hardy of Village Farm explains, “by offering an amazing CSA that supports our grassroots model of sustainable, conscious, local, healthy, organic food grown in our community, for our neighbors.”
Village Farm is Certified Naturally Grown, and last year offered more than 50 types of fruits and vegetables from their location on Siskiyou Blvd. in Ashland. Michael likes the Naturally Grown label because “it is a farmer-run and managed program, is based on the organic farming standards, and we learn from one another in the process.” This year, Village Farm will cultivate an additional plot at Restoration Farm, where some of the fruit for the CSA is being grown.
Combining experience from a diversity of backgrounds, these farmers and producers are drawn together to share information, help one another, overcome common struggles, and make farming more viable for everyone. They celebrate their shared principles as well as their diverse approaches.
Melding traditional organic methods with a perma-culture perspective, HappyDirt Veggie Patch views the farm as an “integrated living community of plants, animals, soil, microbes, insects—and humans.” Located near the banks of Bear Creek in Ashland, HappyDirt is part of the 20-acre Eagle Mill Farm site which is slated for long term conservation as an agricultural preservation easement.
Meadowlark Family Farm includes two separate prop-erties located in Ashland, and is Oregon Tilth Certified Organic. About 40 different types of herbs and vegetables grow throughout the season, along with berries and melons. In addition to this season’s CSA, Quinn Barker sees “many opportunities to share resources through our new cooperative, including greenhouses, trucks, labor, cold storage, tractors and tractor implements.”
At Village Farm, Michael DiGiorgio and Chris Hardy—who together convened the local producers—are in pursuit of a cooperative model that contributes to their mission of food security, connecting people to the land and securing a healthy future for the children. Michael believes “It is time for developing our local food structure and food shed as one of the most logical things we as human beings can do—on our lawns, in our neighborhoods, and our valley. In order to do this well we need to have an environment of cooperation, so that we can share knowledge and resources and help all food growers grow quality food while we maintain the highest standard of environmental stewardship.”
This vision also includes a more secure land base so future generations can continue to practice sustainable agriculture. Chris envisions that “in addition to caring for the land, investing in the soil, farmers should keep records and provide education, so that what we learn informs other farmers.” Securing agricultural land for the long term is a widespread challenge. Land trusts and other charitable organizations, as well as some state agencies, are involved in protecting farmland for the benefit of the community and to ensure the viability of farming as an essential enterprise. Producers often form cooperatives in order to share marketing, distribution and processing capacity. In general, cooperative corporations are membership-benefit businesses, and members can be consumers, workers, producers, or a combination of all three. The main principle of co-ops is “one-member-one-vote.” Surplus revenue is distributed to members based on how actively each member uses the cooperative business.
A farmer with HappyDirt, and a wildcrafter of nettles and other wild foods, Bach-Thor thinks “A CSA produced by a collective of farms amplifies the CSA concept because members have the opportunity to be involved with and support a greater portion of the farming community, which is forward thinking and works together to strengthen our community and food shed.” For people with an “eat local” perspective, a food shed is basically the land, travel route, and market in between the source and where the food is eaten.
A few other farmers will also contribute to the CSA supply, including permaculture designer Chris Bourne. Inspired to create a legacy for his son Shanti, Chris named his farm Shanti Acres. Last season, they started sharing growing tips and food in their Talent neighborhood. “I really like direct marketing, which is one reason I’m so excited about contributing to the CSA, and joining with people in the valley to feed our friends. I believe we should keep what’s grown here local, so our needs are met. A collective CSA can make a big difference, and it is already inspiring innovation and new relationships.”
Community participation comes in many forms. CSA farms traditionally have a support network of share holders and others who take care of non-farming tasks. In addition to the CSA suppliers, the Ashland/Talent group includes people with backgrounds in conservation, business management, education, marketing, research and innovative strategic planning. With farmer support at the center, so far the mix of outcomes includes crop scheduling assistance, outreach, cooperative business development support, delivery options, a labor pool and many other provisions. It took less than a month from the first meeting to launch the CSA offering. Producers and supporters meet regularly to plan the next steps.
Another collaborative effort, based on last year’s popular Farm-to-Table events sponsored by Village Farm, is now in the planning stages. This year the Ashland/Talent growers collective will be active in bringing a more diverse series of dinners to celebrate the 2010 growing season.
“Rogue Valley Farm to Fork’s dinners are a fun and unique way to reconnect people to the source of their food, and to honor the talented farmers, food artisans, winemakers and chefs that make up our local food community,” explains Sascha Meier, who, along with Matthew Domingo, are co-creating these events. Proceeds from these dinners will directly benefit organizations and individuals that support small farms, food security and greater access to healthy local food.
Community engagement is key to operating a CSA and building a cooperative. Like the ecosystem, social and economic systems are more resilient when diverse and interwoven. The Ashland/Talent growers collective offers people an “opportunity to tap into the local abundance of fresh, whole foods that are lovingly grown here in the Bear Creek region.”
The CSA box option can be a convenient way to feed your family the freshest produce during the 20-week long season. Friday will be pick-up day, and home delivery will be available too. By paying in advance, you are ensured a weekly supply of fresh-picked veggies harvested from June through mid-October.
The collective CSA will also include a “Farm Bucks” option. Purchased at a discount, these coupons can be used at any of the three primary farms or their Farmer’s Market tables, and the growers are excited about this innovative approach. “We feel that working together will offer much more value and convenience for our customers than each of us running our own CSA programs,” says Matt Suhr of HappyDirt. “The 15% discount for early Farm Bucks purchase is very significant.”
CSA boxes may also include a dozen or more specialty options from other local producers—including Rogue Valley Brambles eggs and pastured poultry, Mycoverse gourmet mushrooms, Pickled Planet sauerkraut, as well as seasonal fruit, flowers and herbs.
The group is currently seeking support and sign-ups for the coming season. The purchase of a CSA share in the winter provides farmers the financial support needed to buy seeds, prepare the fields, and focus on growing for the next season’s harvest. A CSA membership is an investment in the job-intensive local food economy and helps keep money circulating in the community.
Details about the Ashland/Talent CSA can be found at http://happydirtveggiepatch.wordpress.com. You can also call (541) 531-7467 or email farmerscircle@gmail.com. For more information about Rogue Valley Farm to Fork’s dinners, call (541) 201-8707 or email farmtoforkdinners@gamil.com.
Jude Wait, a freelance consultant residing in Ashland, Oregon, has two decades of experience working with community-based nonprofit and collaborative organizations. She teaches Sustainability Leadership and is co-editor, contributing writer, researcher and project manager for the Sustainable World SourceBook (Sustainable World Coalition, 2009). Jude eats fresh veggies twice a day, and can be contacted via www.judewait.com.
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