Community Supported Agriculture in Texas

A work colleague asked me the other day if our site had any articles about delivery of fresh local produce to homes or businesses from local farms, my answer was;

I don’t know how to get fresh produce delivered yet, but I will make it my green mission to find out more about locally delivered fresh fruit and vegetables!

Completely by chance, after a conversation with Carter, I learned that such programs are collectively known as Community Supported Agriculture or CSA’s for short.

Community Supported Agriculture is becoming a more and more popular way for consumers to buy local, seasonal food directly from farmers.
The idea is that a local farmer offers a certain number of “shares” to the public. Typically the share consists of a box of vegetables, but other farm products may be included such as fresh eggs, goats cheese etc. Local residents purchase a “share” and in return receive a healthy crate of seasonal produce each week throughout the farming season which varies depending on your location.

CSA’s have lots of benefits for all involved…

Advantages for farmers:

1/ Get to spend time marketing the food early in the year, before their 16 hour days in the field begin
2/ Receive payment early in the season, which helps with the farm’s cash flow
3/ Have an opportunity to get to know the people who eat the food they grow

Advantages for you:

1/ Eat ultra-fresh food, with all the flavor and vitamin benefits
2/ Get exposed to new vegetables and new ways of cooking
3/ Usually get to visit the farm at least once a season
4/ Find that kids typically favor food from “their” farm – even veggies they’ve never been known to eat
5/ Develop a relationship with the farmer who grows their food and learn more about how food is grown

You can search for Community Supported Agriculture programs nearest to you using the LocalHarvest search tool below;

Enter Your Zip Code or City Below to Find a Local CSA:

Once you’ve found a local CSA program you can contact them and see how that particular program works.
I am going to try one of the local Texas CSA’s and get fresh fruit and vegetables delivered weekly, we’re excited about using the fresh local produce. We’re going to create recipes each week which make the best use of the seasonal fruits and vegetables and hopefully write some follow on articles with those recipes included.

Here are a few of my local CSA’s and their details;

1/ SqueezePenny Farms CSA

http://www.squeezepenny.com/
Squeezepenny CSA Spring 2010 12-week Plan. A year round program to support our area’s Local Farmers, Ranchers and Producers. Reaching out to connect with our current suppliers of fresh, healthy, local (Farm Fresh: No toxic chemicals; Organic: USDA Certified, Certified Exempt and Non-Certified; Certified and Non-Certified Controlled Environment Greenhouses) Texas Agricultural products. Pick-up/distribution sites are currently in Allen, Frisco, McKinney and Plano, TX. Reducing Collin County’s Carbon Footprint with a focus on food safety, security and local availability.
Contact Information:
Penny Braley: (972) 838-3869
Full Share: $120.00 / 12 weeks ( 6 bi-weekly distributions)
Half Share: Half shares will only be accepted as add-ons to full shares. $60.00/12 wks ( 6 bi-weekly distributions)

2/ Humble Beginnings Farm CSA(February-November)

A standard share is designed to provide you with $20 dollars worth of produce and fruit a week throw the 9 month growing season. The cost is $580 per year. That is only $15 dollars per week.
The Payment options are: $522.45 in full $220.50 down and $40 per month through the growing season.
A half share is $387 it does not have the benefit of giving you as much for your money as the full share because it has all the expenses for us as a full share but pays us less. But if you cannot use all of the food provided in a full share it is available.
Payment: $350 in full $175 down and $23.56 a month
Add ons:
Farm fresh eggs $10 deposit plus $2 per half dozen and $3.25 per dozen Pastured chickens $20 deposit and $6 per bird.