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 - Fresh Produce Delivered Weekly

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

SqueezePenny Farms CSA

2/ Humble Beginnings Farm CSA(February-November)

Humble Beginnings CSA