Vegetable Program
Community Supported Agriculture

CSA Farm Profiles

These CSA profiles are part of a study of Community Supported Agriculture that was conducted by the UMass Extension program from 1994 to 2004. The purpose of these case studies was to understand what makes CSA farms successful and viable over the long term. The profiles highlight the range of farm sizes, locations, products, ownership models, and communities served among 10 CSA's in Massachusetts, Vermont, Maine, New Hampshire and eastern New York.  All of these farms had been in operation for ten years or more. Each farm is unique.

Please note that each of these profiles is a snapshot of the character and people involved in the CSA at that moment in time. These farms have continued to change in subsequent years; for example, there have been changes in ownership, management, farm name, and location.

This study was led by Cathy Roth, UMass Extension Community Development Specialist.  The research was conducted by Cathy Roth, Elizabeth Keen (Community Supported Agriculture of North American, CSANA), and Enid Wonacott (Vermont chapter, Northeast Organic Farming Association). The profiles were researched and written by Laurily K. Epstein (Berkshire Grown).

Mahaiwe Harvest CSA, Housatonic, MA
Intervale Community Farm, Burlington, VT
Willow Pond Farm, Sabbatus, ME
Someday Farm CSA, East Dorset, VT
Local Harvest CSA, New Hampshire
Buttermilk Falls Organic Farm, Schaghtioke, NY
Food Bank Farm, Hadley, MA
Roxbury Farm CSA, Kinderhook, NY
Caretaker Farm, Williamstown, MA
Luna Bleu Farm, VT

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Mahaiwe Harvest CSA, Housatonic, MA

Mahaiwe Harvest: The Land

The Mahaiwe Harvest Farm CSA is now into its fourth incarnation as a CSA. It began as the CSA Garden in 1986 on Indian Line Farm in South Egremont, MA. When land issues intervened, the CSA Garden moved to Sunways Farm, a 55-acre farm in nearby Housatonic. Mahaiwe Harvest Land Trust was formed as a separate entity from the CSA to hold the land in trust.

The CSA began operations at Sunways in 1990 under the direction of the original growers, Hugh Radcliff and John Donovan, who continued farming the land through the 1992 season. They were then replaced by David Inglis, who continued there until 2003.

Mahaiwe Harvest CSA reopens in 2004 in a new 12-acre location, almost directly across the road from the old CSA. Sunways, the name of the farm Inglis had operated as Mahaiwe Harvest, was sold to Berkshire Natural Resources Council, a county-wide organizations that owns and oversees more than 12,000 acres in Berkshire County. "I am very happy that the land won't go onto the open market. It's being taken over by a new set of tenants who can use it," says Inglis, referring to Project Native and the New England Heritage Breeds Conservancy, which will move onto the property.

Although Inglis will be operating on fewer acres at his new location, more of them are suitable for cultivation. "Now I've got eight acres that are tillable. It's better land and more productive. There's no water at Sunways except for a well we put in, which was only adequate for drip irrigation. The land around here is very hungry, but with water it's capable of great productivity," he says.

By moving onto a smaller but more productive property, Inglis believes that he's moving back to his origins as an intensive vegetable grower. "When I first moved here from Wisconsin, I didn't know the land," he says. "Now I know the piece of land I'm producing on, and have already been developing it. I'll work more intensively with a small area. It already produces enough to provide for my core membership. When you're working the ground intensively, it's much better if it's a smaller area. You see results more quickly."

In keeping with his belief in working the land intensively, Inglis says that "a viable operation should ideally use the land and equipment at 80% capacity. If you use more than that, you're straining it and the system will break down. If you use less than that, you're carrying too much capital for the amount of production."

Inglis has been working the land of his new CSA for four years, making enormous improvements to the soil. "I'm still developing techniques appropriate to this land. For instance, I can plant crops without tilling the soil, which preserves organic matter and the soil itself. But that's appropriate only for certain types of crops, " he says.

"My biggest obstacle when I started the CSA was that I wasn't familiar with the land, so I had to become familiar with it as soon as possible. I've been here for 11 years now, so now my challenge is to provide what the land needs so it can provide for itself sustainably into the future," says Inglis.

Mahaiwe Harvest: The CSA

"CSAs are not about land," says Inglis. "They're about people. So long as I can produce food at reasonable prices for them, it really doesn't matter that this isn't the greatest soil. There's always more ideal soil somewhere else."

Yet, there is some uncertainty about how many of his shareholders will return in 2004, what with the CSA being dormant in 2003. "My shareholders are a dedicated group," says Inglis. "I winnowed out the people who don't get it. I had 100 shareholders, most of whom are very interested and devoted."

Inglis notes that every time there's a food scare, there's a spike of interest in CSAs. "But I'm only interested in long-term shares," he says. "I'm not interested in people who see a CSA as food fashion. We're building a food system that has longevity."

Inglis points out that a common threat to the longevity of a CSA is that many may be too small to be viable. "Some CSA farmers are scared of getting big because they think it will make it harder. But they're wrong. It can make it easier. Some people have this idea of a cutesy time on the farm, but that means they will be struggling constantly with an inadequate production model. You've got to be able to afford the model that will actually work. And unless there are extenuating circumstances, I think the right minimum for a CSA is about 220 shares."

Inglis feels that the only common factor amongst his CSA members is "their love of fresh food, their love of the landscape, and the connection between these two," he says. "A lot of CSA operators are far too free in sharing their political opinions. They see their CSA as a political statement, and therefore it becomes one. It's a point of pride with me that I don't browbeat my shareholders with my own opinions. I keep them to myself. I have no wish to be surrounded only with people who agree with me."

Inglis has been a farmer most of his adult life, and takes great pride in both agriculture in general, and CSAs specifically. "People got very excited when CSAs first started. They had a certain cachet. But what people didn't realize at first is that to survive in agriculture, you have to be really good at what you're doing, and that expertise can't be acquired very rapidly. But agriculture isn't for everybody, and neither is running a CSA. I know many conventional farmers who would rather do almost anything other than talk to their customers. A CSA is simply not suited to them. You have to like dealing with the people for whom you produce the food. Here at Mahaiwe Harvest CSA, if I don't like the shareholders, they're gone. I simply don't have time for people I don't like or who are looking for something we can't offer. Besides, they won't continue to buy from me if they don't like it," says Inglis, reflecting on his years of CSA management.

Inglis will be supplementing his CSA income and spreading his labor over a larger part of the year by producing winter crops which can be sold to his CSA membership and others on a weight basis. "Because I'm working on my own, I have to be selling food over a longer season," he says.

He's also looking to some form of cooperation with the nearby Indian Line Farm CSA, but says "that's not responsible until we're both established and have the assurance that we'll be able to fulfill our end of it. It's simply irresponsible to do that in a time of transition, but we anticipate that in two or three years, this could happen." The relationship of Elizabeth Keen and Al Thorp, the co-owners of Indian Line Farm CSA, with Mahaiwe Harvest CSA is something of a legend in the Berkshires. Elizabeth and Al met as apprentices at Mahaiwe Harvest, and within a year, they were running their own farm. Now they are married, and have started a family.

Elizabeth Keen has a flourishing stand at the Great Barrington Farmers Market, but Inglis feels that, for him, selling at one could be a conflict of interest. "Besides, I hate leaving the farm in the summer."

People who operate CSAs and people who join them tend to share an interest in environmental protection. Thus, the amount of energy it takes to get to and from the farm each week for grocery pick-up is an issue with many CSA partisans. "People will join a CSA that's within a half-hour drive of their home," observes Inglis. "Most members live closer than that, though, and people do use car pools or pick up every other week."

"I've been criticized by zealous environmental studies students about the use of fossil fuel in the production of our food. My observation is that the local production system I use could be, and is being, improved, and is far less energy-intensive than the alternative. Even so, the amount of energy used in my production of food pales in comparison to the energy consumed by shareholders to come to pick up their food. My rough calculation is that the total energy I use on this farm in a season is equivalent to only 1 1/2-2 weeks of fuel consumed by shareholders getting to the farm to pick up their food. That's in a season that normally involves 25-30 pick-up weeks," he says.

Mahaiwe Harvest: Labor

Inglis worked with apprentices for many years, but had difficulties finding appropriate housing for them. "That's one of the difficulties of living in an affluent area," he notes, "an area that, in spite of its affluence, still thinks it should have the equivalent of itinerant Mexican farm labor to keep prices down." When Inglis had apprentices, he housed them in trailers, but after a while that made him psychologically uncomfortable, even though the apprentices themselves didn't seem to mind."

Even though Inglis is not enthusiastic about using interns, he thinks he might train people to help him out on specific tasks, such as working in the greenhouse. "Once I've trained them in one area, they can stay there," he says. "The problem is that once have mastered one aspect of the operation, they want to move on. If they come back for a second year, then the efforts of the first year pay off. But more and more apprentices don't have the time to invest in that much training, particularly at one farm. If you have a really good apprentice, you just about break even on a financial basis. Anything less than the very best puts you in the hole, as opposed to hiring someone you can keep for 5-6 years. I like people who come in, know what they're doing, and don't badger me with their questions about the latest genetic engineering catastrophe. My time is much more productive without apprentices."

Although Inglis will not have apprentices now, he is proud to note that ten of the ones he did train have become full-time farmers. He is also a co-founder of CRAFT (Collaborative Regional Alliance for Farmer Training), an organization that developed in the Berkshires and neighboring areas, and has since spread across the country.

Despite Inglis's success with apprentices, he says, "I don't think it's socially responsible to use apprentice labor. I think one reason that there aren't more CSAs is that a lot of them are apprentice-supported agriculture, not community-supported. The use of apprentices is hobbling the development of these operations because they depend on inexperienced and inexpensive labor, and this becomes self-limiting. Apprentices willingly exchange some of the value of their labor for training and experience, but I think it's a bad bargain."

Mahaiwe Harvest: Change

Many farmers are experimenting with greenhouses, and Inglis is no exception. "I'm focusing on greenhouses now. That's part of my intensive farming program. I've got a solar-heated seedling greenhouse under construction," he says, while noting that the other greenhouses are the traditional high tunnels that are not heated.

"Im retooling my farm, selling anything I don't utilize properly," he says, "and investing the money in equipment that has multiple uses."

Inglis is 47 years old, and wants to keep farming as long as he can. "I also recognize my physical capacities are beginning to wane, so I have to set things up now so they'll work for me on my last working day on the farm," he says.

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Intervale Community Farm, Burlington, VT

Intervale Foundation: The concept

Butlington's Intervale Community Farm is part of the Intervale Foundation, a prime example of the successful private and public efforts in Vermont to create responsible, sustainable growth. The Foundation, an umbrella organization for the many environmentally sensitive businesses in the Intervale, is the creation of businessman Will Raap.

Raap, a Californian trained as an urban planner, moved to Burlington in the early 1980's to work for a mail-order business, Garden Way. When it went out of business, Raap began working for Gardens for All, which soon morphed into the National Gardening Association. In 1983, Raap founded Gardener's Supply, offering European gardening tools and hard-to-find specialty items by mail order.

By 1985, Gardener's Supply outgrew its facility and needed more space. Raap was attracted to the Intervale, a centuries-old agricultural floodplain that had declined into an old car-infested dump. Native Americans had farmed there, as did colonial settlers, including Ethan Allen, the first Colonel-Commander of the Green Mountain Boys, a rabble-rousing militia prominent in the Revolutionary War.

The McNeil wood-burning power plant, opened in the Intervale a decade earlier as a response to the energy crisis of the 1970's, was what attracted Raap to the area. He believed that the waste energy from the power plant would help warm his greenhouses and building. He was right. His idea of waste being used as a resource, aided by the forward-looking views of Burlington political and business leaders, turned the Intervale into a hugely successful, energy-efficient incubator of farms and local businesses. Currently there are 11 farms at the Intervale, an enormous compost business, the McNeil wood-burning power plant, Gardener's Supply, the restored Ethan Allen homestead, trails, and more…much, much more.

Intervale Foundation: The CSA

One of the first projects Raap undertook as he moved to the Intervale was compost. Promoting the area for farm land followed naturally. In 1990, the Intervale Community Farm (ICF) was founded on 15 of the areas 700 acres.

The CSA was an integral part of the Intervale Foundation's mission to provide aspiring, interested young farmers with lower cost land, and access to equipment and resources. At the Intervale, young farmers can rent several acres, tractor time, and greenhouse space for market gardening. They have access to wells, water, and the equipment they need to farm. And thus they can learn how to farm before buying their own land.

Andy Jones, manager of the IFC, says, "We're the largest of the 11 farms here at the Intervale. Three other farms here also have CSAs as components to their business, but we're the largest in terms of acreage, budget and members." The farms currently at the Intervale include several small-scale market gardens, a few large enough to be operated as truck farms, a flower grower, and a livestock operation.

ICF, with 430 members, does not distribute off the farm, although its smaller CSA neighbors do some off-site distribution. "We think that members who return year after year like their weekly trips here, and that's one reason why they keep coming back." Jones also feels that on-site pickup simplifies distribution. "We don't have to pack things up, and that saves us a lot of time."

Another time-saver for ICF is their extensive pick-your-own (pyo). "It reduces the work load for our farm staff, and gives children things to do," says Jones. "Shareholders pick herbs, flowers, berries, peas, beans, cherry tomatoes and hot peppers. In fact, they're only available as pyo. We're upfront about that," he adds.

The CSA buys and sells items from other producers in the Burlington area, products that their members can not get elsewhere. They also act as a broker for some items, such as organic goat cheese and organic bread, and get a 5-10% commission on those sales. "We also have organic poultry, beef, and eggs," says Jones. "I'm reluctant to go much further in this direction," he continues, "because we're not set up to act as a retail store. We only offer organic, very high quality merchandise, or products that are simply unavailable elsewhere. We're only 5 minutes from downtown, so our members don't need a lot of extras from us."

ICF does not produce any value-added products now, but is considering it. "A community processing facility is scheduled to be built in Burlington," Jones notes, "and if that happens, it would make a value-added line much more attractive to us."

In addition to its food delivery system, ICF emphasizes community activities. For children, there are tether balls, a sand box, a rope swing, and other play things. "We do some kid-oriented programming, too," adds Jones, "such as potato block prints, making vegetable people, or flower pressing." The CSA also has programs for adults, such as cooking demonstrations.

For the last few years, ICF has hosted a sculptor, Erik Rehman, who makes 4" x 4" tiles for members to carve when they're at the farm on distribution days. Once they're carved,Rehman glazes them, and they're hung on the barn. "We're hoping to hang the whole barn with them," says Jones.

The CSA has maintained the same membership size for the last five years. "We have a waiting list," says Jones, "so we could expand if we want to. One way to do this is to offer winter distribution sales, which we're contemplating for next year."

Intervale Foundation: Management

"This is not my farm," says Jones. "We're a not-for-profit, but not tax exempt, so there are no tax advantages to our status. But that does mean our management is different from most other CSAs." ICF has a membership steering committee, that acts in many respects as a board of trustees. In that regard, ICF is more in line with the original CSA concept of active membership involvement.

Jones moved to Burlington in 1991 "because it sounded like a neat place. I liked the progressive politics, and admired Bernie Sanders, who had been mayor there for quite some time," says Jones. He began working at ICF 11 years ago, and has been its director for ten. "I was a geology major at Oberlin," he says, " and had no agricultural training. But in college I was involved in a student co-op that bought local food for our 100-person dining room. That's what really got me hooked on this"

As an employee of the CSA, Jones receives a salary, health insurance, Social Security, and a simple retirement plan. And then there are the non-economic benefits. "Through the CSA I've made a lot of friends and a sense of value to a wide community. My job has diverse tasks, provides great food, gives me a chance to work outside and to work with children and young adults. It makes me feel like a do-gooder, helping to change the food system. And I can work part-time as a community organizer."

The opportunity to shape the farm is an important part of Jones's attachment to ICF. "I'm ultimately accountable to the membership. This is my farm as much as I need it to be, and it's become what I wanted it to."

Intervale Foundation: Challenges

The Intervale Community Farm has three share sizes, ranging from 14 pounds of produce a week to 28 pounds. "I wouldn't do that if I were starting out again," says Jones. "I'd get one share size and stick with that. If people wanted a bigger share, they could double it." But he would have offered more flexible payment plans and more supported shares for low-income people as the CSA got started. "I'd be happy to have more debt early on so we could have a lot of equipment," he continues. "We should have gotten a loan, and invested enough up front to be adequately capitalized at the beginning. It's just a lot more profitable when there are economies of scale."

The CSA's far northern climate means a limited growing season, which is why Jones says, "I would have put up a lot more greenhouses and protected structures."

Like many other CSAs, ICF's biggest obstacle at the beginning was soliciting enough members. "It was hard to get enough money to keep the farm solvent," says Jones. "It takes a while for a new concept to percolate people's consciousness. Moreover, we hadn't really delivered all that well at the beginning. We didn't have enough of some things, and way too much of things people didn't want."

And, again like many other CSAs, ICF required people to work at the farm. "We said that members had to work at the farm for 6-12 hours. Talk about nightmares to coordinate! We had to hound people to work, and then they felt badly that they weren't keep up their end of the bargain. So we simply dropped the work requirement for all members, and now we have working memberships, but they only involve a few selected tasks," says Jones.

A common problem faced by new CSAs is providing too much food for the members, who can get easily overwhelmed by the huge amount of produce that comes in week after bountiful week during the season. "We created much smaller share sizes for less money, and that really appealed to people," says Jones. "That made our business flourish. What we now call our 'small' membership has become 80% of our base. It's $315 per season for this size share, and obviously it's quite popular. A lot of our members join our CSA because they like the farm, but I also see them at the farmers market on Saturdays, and at the food co-op during the week."

Labor is a problem for all CSAs, as it is for all other kinds of farms. "Our major obstacle right now," says Jones, "is paying our staff more and working the staff less, which I guess amounts to the same thing."

Intervale Foundation: The Future of CSAs

Andy Jones, ICF's 10-year manager, is not sanguine about the future of CSAs. "It's a tough concept to get across. You really have to hang in there to derive the benefits," he says. Like other CSA veterans, he feels that America's 21st century culture is hostile to a concept like CSAs. "We're fighting a huge cultural battle because what CSAs are saying is that we need more relationships in our faceless society. Wal-Mart is about as far away as possible from a CSA. Neighborhood stores are gone, and nobody is even looking for that anymore."

Jones admits that among certain groups of people, there has been a renewed interest in high-quality food, but he does not believe that this means we've reached a point where people necessarily want to be a member of a CSA. "It's a weird concept," he says, "counter-cultural. Pay for something in advance for something you might not even get?," he asks. "The community needs to be educated about what CSAs are. Familiarity with them is critical."

For the Intervale Community Farm, being one of several CSAs in the area is an advantage. "I have strong questions about the viability of the CSA as an economic model for small, rural farms. I don't know very many examples of that actually happening successfully. There aren't many small CSAs that sustain themselves over time," he notes.

Jones's pessimism about the viability of small, rural CSAs notwithstanding, he is happy about his involvement in the Intervale Community Farm. "There's a lot more to CSAs then a simple economic salvation magic bullet. It's not for everybody, but I love it. I alternate between being shy and quiet, and then outgoing and loud. I like the community involvement and the organization- that's essential if you want to do a CSA and remain committed to it."

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Willow Pond Farm, Sabbatus, ME

Willow Pond Farm: The CSA

Jill Agnew, owner and proprietor of the Willow Pond Farm, learned about CSAs from Eliot Coleman, the organic farmer from Maine, whose conferences and popular books have inspired many northeastern farmers to extend their growing season throughout the year. "He's quite particular, and I'm much more haphazard," says Agnew, "but he's the one who gave me the idea I could do a CSA."

Agnew, with a degree from the University of Vermont in animal science, bought the 35-acre Willow Pond Farm with the proceeds from the sale of a land she and her husband owned in northern Maine. The CSA takes up six of the farm's acres, enough land to feed her 85-member CSA. Roughly 75% of the CSA members renew each year, a level of commitment that has stayed steady for the last decade.

"We were the first CSA in Maine," Agnew says. "We were faced with finding people, getting information out, telling people what a CSA is, and convincing them that we could grow their food. We asked them to trust us when we ourselves were insecure. We didn't know how much to charge for a share. It probably took 2-3 years for me to get a handle on what a share should cost. But I've kept impeccable records of time and costs, so I feel comfortable now about budgeting and time."

Willow Pond Farm provides its shareholders with a wide range of produce, organic meats plus value-added products including apple butter and raspberry jam made from their own organic fruit. "We planted blueberries a few years ago," says Agnew. "People want more fruit. We have eggs, jams and jellies, and get beef from a neighbor who raises natural beef. We make goat cheese from milk we buy from the organic meat farm. We buy strawberries and blueberries and make apple jelly that's not organic. We used to do salsas and pickles, and sold some fermented pickles, but we don't have overt sales of these any more because there are too many regulations about selling on the open market. We stay away from regulators. You have to send a jar of each food every week to the university for inspection. Heck, I rarely even get to the post office, so that doesn't work."

The Willow Pond Farm CSA's base is large enough to market Christmas trees and wreaths. "We could raise more eggs, and sell meat and dry goods," says Agnew, "but we don't have those systems in place yet. I've fantasized about having dry goods as part of our CSA, but we have this huge rodent problem, and that scares me. I'd have to build a rodent-proof building to house the grains and feed."

Agnew points out that having a farm provides her family with all of its food. "Plus we do some bartering. We've been able to have a comfortable life style because our business is sustaining our life style. The farm pays half of our utilities, and the money we make doesn't have to go into living expenses."

Willow Pond Farm: Labor

In 2003, Agnew hired a full-time employee, Keena Tracy. "Now that I've got a full-time employee," says Agnew, "we have to generate more income. I had a difficult time getting apprentices, and only made our budget because we were doing the work of four people. We need to make more money without a lot more work. I think that having one person staying longer will be a great help."

The apprentices Agnew does hire live on the farm in two little cabins and in a room up in the chicken barn. There are gas lights, and a composting toilet. "They eat their meals with us," says Agnew. Although Agnew has hired apprentices since she began her CSA, she has lost most of her enthusiasm about this type of labor. "I'm impatient with the haphazard energy of apprentices. I want total commitment and focused energy. They can't treat this as just another job. That won't work. It's not a job; it's a life style."

During the down time between the 2003 and 2004 seasons, Agnew's assistant Keena sought grant support for the CSA. "I feel comfortable getting giveaway money because it will support our community. So many people here know us, and value the open space and our animals. They don't know much about the CSA, but they know about our farm," says Agnew.

In 2003 Willow Pond Farm provided work shares "with a variable amount of success," admits Agnew. "This year Keena will be managing work shares. I've learned that we have to define what the work share is and be very clear about the tasks."

Willow Pond Farm: Operational Issues

Willow Pond Farm bags all of its own produce, a policy Agnew would like to shed. "I'd really like to have people pick their own produce out of a bulk container. This would save us a huge amount of time and labor, and people would get more of what they want. We'd have to have a guide so people wouldn't overdo any one item, but I think the act of picking out their own food would be more fun for them," she says.

Not only would picking their own food save the farm staff time, but it would involve the members more in the daily farm process. "Everyone would be participating for at least a half-hour. They'd feel involved rather than just opening the cooler door and leaving."

But Agnew is reluctant to change the pickup procedure after 15 years. "My members like the convenience of just picking up the stuff, and we don't have a lot of room. I've got an idea for a building that would allow us to operate more efficiently," she says, "but the rodent problem is our biggest technological challenge."

Willow Pond Farm: Shareholder Commitment

CSAs demand owners or managers who are people oriented. "You have to interact with all the shareholders," reports Agnew. "That's what makes the CSA. You know, the 'farmer with a face' thing." But the people-oriented owner is only part of the equation for a CSA. "In a lot of areas, there's work to be done in changing people's consumer habits. We're a society that goes for convenience and that's detached from things. People rush into the big store where they can get everything they need, and then rush out. Add to that the fact that a lot of people don't cook any more. They buy things that are processed, precooked, or conveniently packaged."

She continues, "It takes commitment to be a shareholder. It reflects people's life styles. When you get 30 pounds of vegetables, you have to clean them or sort them and decide what to use right away, what to can, what to freeze, when to cook. It takes more labor than getting food from the grocery store, buying half-prepared foods and then popping them into the microwave. I understand that. In most families, both parents work, and it's rush rush rush with the children. People want a quality life style, but they don't have the time to do it all."

Agnew's view of America's contemporary consumer society is shared by the other CSA farmers in this study. "People must be willing to put the extra effort in to make the difference- willing to make a statement by the way they live."

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Someday Farm CSA, East Dorset, VT

Someday Farm: The Land

Scout and Matt Proft, along with their five children and interns, operate Someday Farm, a CSA in East Dorset, VT. The Profts own their 100-acre farm, which has been in Scout's family since 1938. "It was a forest, which we cleared ourselves, 20 years ago. Having the land given to us was a huge advantage, but actually, if we had our druthers, we'd have started farming in an area where the taxes aren't so high. But we have good proximity to Manchester and Dorset, which provides us with terrific markets."

In addition to their 100-acre farm, they rent 60 acres nearby. "Our vegetables are grown on 5 acres of rented land," says Scout. "This year (2003) we bartered 55 acres of flatland farm with a barn about 15 miles from here. It has water and level land, and it came with a tractor because the owners wanted the land to stay in agriculture. We plan to have vegetables, and 400 laying hens on it in movable barns."

"If I were starting out all over again, I'd go into debt earlier," says Scout. "When we started our own farm, we had the confidence to be full-time farmers even though the extension service raised questions about a hillside farm. But we knew we could."

The Profts' confidence in their abilities has paid off. Someday Farm was the first Vermont farm to get a sustainable agriculture loan, which they used for building a livestock greenhouse. Scout is proud to note that the loan was paid off in its first year.

"The Vermont National Bank needed to loan money to a local farm, and we got it. The loan was based on the vision we had for the farm. There was no paperwork involved. The bank simply came to the farm and interviewed us for the day. We got the loan and redesigned our greenhouse specifically for animals, which was quite rare back then. We did it for the turkeys, but now we plant spinach there in early spring, and tomatoes in the summer. The turkeys go in late summer and stay until December."

Someday Farm: The CSA

The Profts formally opened their CSA in 1989, although they had unwittingly been running one for some time before then. "We started with a poultry CSA- but didn't know there was a term for it back in the early 1980's," says Scout. "We needed money for grain and chicks. We had many community members who wanted our chickens and turkey, and were willing to take their chances on our lack of expertise, the weather, the coyotes, etc. We added vegetables, eggs, and syrup later."

In 1993 Someday Farm CSA had 15 members buying 20 shares. By 2003, membership had grown to 250 members buying 75 shares. Their CSA renewal rate has never fallen below 95%; in fact, they have operated with a waiting list for years. They have always offered a range of shares, and by 2003, share prices ranged from $100-$400. "We also work with community members and restaurants to provide 5-10 low income shares each year," says Scout.

The CSA provides about 25% of the Profts' annual income. The remainder comes from restaurant sales and their farm stand.

Like many CSA farmers, the Profts started out bagging produce for their members. And also like many CSA farmers, they now ask that the members just pick what they want or need that week. The CSA members pick up their shares on Wednesdays and Saturdays at the successful farm stand they opened in 1996. farm stand. "We feel strongly that our members should be in touch with the farm. About 75% of them come to the farm on a regular basis on non-farm stand days," says Scout.

In the ten years since this study began, the major change in the Profts' view of becoming CSA farmers is that having a pre-determined market has become valued more highly. The direct feedback they get from their members is an important marketing tool for their non-CSA farm sales. And they still feel that the upfront money in the spring is vital to their operation.

Someday Farm: The Owners' Background

Both Profts are college graduates, Matt in animal science and Scout in plant science. "I maintain that my university education did very little for me because it wasn't hands-on. The university was very dairy-oriented, very conventional. There was no concept of a diversified small farm. I don't think schools address those issues even today," says Scout.

Both Profts did a number of internships in northern New England, some through the Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association. "We interned on and off for five years," says Scout. "Ever since I was a kid, I knew what I wanted to do. Matt wanted to go into forestry, and considering the state of our land when we moved here, I guess he did."

The farm's name came from Scout, who grew up saying "someday." "Someday I'll meet my husband." "Someday we'll have a home and be farming." "Someday our children will be helping us." "Someday we'll get tired." "That's why it's Someday Farm," says Scout.

Someday Farm: Growth and Change

In the 15 years Someday Farm has been a CSA, the Profts have initiated a number of changes. They now have their own state processing plant in their barn so they can process their own birds. "We help others learn the ins and outs of processing birds as part of our desire to give back knowledge, like we were given when we stated out, " says Scout.

They've added cold storage which extends their season considerably. They keep about 5,000 poultry birds, which are available until March. "We have potatoes, winter squash, and onions through the winter season," says Scout.

In 2004 the Profts will be developing dehydrated food. "We did it on a small scale this year (2003), and it's been fantastic," says Scout. " Dehydration is a great niche for small farmers to expand their market. We have four dehydrators now, and are getting a huge one, the size of a refrigerator. We'll be dehydrating tomatoes, small fruit, and herbs. We vacuum pack our meat products, but found that was too expensive for dehydrated items, so we put them in Ziploc bags with labels and dates, and we simply can't keep up with the demand."

Scout's explanation of the economics of dehydration are compelling. "We get $2.50 per pound for fresh tomatoes turned into dehydrated ones, the same price we get for fresh tomatoes. But since we use rejects or seconds for dehydration, it's a nice profit."

The Profts' farm stand is in a garage resembling a small barn. "It's part farm stand, part CSA, and part store. It's on another retail store's property, and he pays our insurance, electricity, and water. But we've increased his business by 50%. He used to have a wood products store, but now it's morphed into a kitchen store because of our CSA members. They'd go in to get his cutting boards and chopping blocks, and gradually he added kitchen items to help them with the food they just got. We've got people who taste our dehydrated food, go into his store to buy one of the inexpensive models, and then come back to us to buy more tomatoes for their new dehydrator! It's definitely a win-win
situation," says Scout.

Someday Farm: Labor

Like many other CSAs, Someday Farm hires interns for anywhere from six weeks to two year. The Profts provide housing down the road from their farm. "It's insulated, has running water, and a wood stove," says Scout. Some interns have a "romanticized idea of farming," she says. "They want to know where food comes from, and things like that."

The Profts organize farm visits for their interns, making sure they visit those appropriate to their interests. "We have an intern now who's interested in cheese. So she's going to cheese workshops, and visiting the sheep and goat farms of people we know."

Over the years, the Profts have had about 28 interns, only three of whom have gone on to be full- or part-time farmers. "About half, though, have gone into something agricultural, such as land trusts, seed saving, greenhouse management, community gardens- that sort of thing," says Scout. "They've stayed in agriculture, but they're not necessarily farming."

The Profts' children each have different businesses at their farm stand. Their oldest son has been baking for quite a while, and sells a lot of brownies and chocolate chip cookies. Their 11-year old son makes $60 per week with his obviously popular ginger cookies. A third son sells enormous bouquets of flowers in enormous buckets, and their daughter makes dill dip and dressing, which sells quite well. Even their youngest child, 5 years old, makes money. "He's in charge of the animals at the farm stand," says Scout. "He teaches children how to hold the rabbits or the chicks. He usually gets tips from our customers since he's that 'cute little redheaded boy who takes my bags out to my car.'" Someday Farm is definitely a family affair.

Someday Farm: Education

Typically the people who start up CSAs are interested in more than just farming. They have a philosophical commitment to small, diversified farms, to the creation of a community around their farm, to sustainable agriculture, and to the development of a new generation of committed farmers. The Profts fit squarely within that philosophy. They train interns, home school their five children, and provide educational treats for children at their farm stand.

"I keep six boxes of activities around for educational purposes," says Scout. "I have a wooden basket with wooden eggs of different sizes. It goes with another basket of laminated cards with birds. The children have to match the farm bird on the cards to the wooden eggs in the basket. This gets them to realize how many different birds they can eat, all kinds that are raised at Someday."

She also keeps a big puzzle next to a big bouquet of flowers with make-believe bees. "Which flowers would the bees prefer?," she asks the children, who have to look at the cards to identify the flower, and then match them with the bees.

The dehydrator is another activity. "I have a basket full of different dehydrated foods in lunch bags, with clues. For example, 'What is sweet and small and starts as fruit and ends up as fruit and often ends up in your cereal?' These are all low-cost teaching activities," she says. NOFA-VT agreed, and gave her a small grant to develop and laminate the cards.

CSA: Obstacles and Rewards

The most frequently found obstacle to any new business, CSA or dot.com, is money. The Profts were no exception to this rule. "We had very little savings, and although the land was given to us - and I don't mean to discount that as a huge advantage - taxes in this area are enormous."

The major obstacle Scout faces now "is not having two of me, which is pretty funny when you realize I'm a twin, so there really could be two of me." Today the Profts are looking for an individual or couple to share in their new acreage, who could start their own business with help from Scout and Matt. "We're thinking of something similar to the Intervale in Burlington," says Scout.

"A lot of farmers don't want to be committed to their customers," says Scout when asked why there aren't more CSAs today. "They feel uncomfortable taking someone else's money at the beginning of the season, and feel like they have a noose around their neck because they have to deliver, not matter what." Scout feels that the growth of CSAs can best come from startup farmers. "Existing farmers don't embrace the concept as easily after they've started a farm and developed their own market," says Scout, in agreement with most other CSA farmers in this study.

CSAs conjure up images of mounds of paperwork. "The original CSA models were a lot about budgets, and how to do things, like your first core group meeting, and then the second meeting, what your newsletter should look like, things like that. But not every CSA needs a core group, and you certainly can have a CSA without a newsletter," Scout remarks.

"Frankly, we were totally overwhelmed by what seemed to be required of us as a CSA. Our motive for a CSA was strictly economic - we needed money at the beginning of the season, and we still do," she says. "I think the early definition of a CSA was narrow, and people found it confining. But now I think a CSA is whatever you want to make of it, following, of course, certain guidelines. Education about farming, I think, is a component that needs to be a part of every CSA."

"One of the things we love about being a CSA is showing farmers how diversified CSA farmers and CSA wannabes can be. I think the next great leap of growth in CSAs will come as more growers start pooling their resources. We're already doing that with early season tomatoes, organic fruits and organic breads. We're now partnering with five farms. In some cases we pay them, in others we barter," says Scout.

The Profts like being able to help other producers. "We're buying organic bread from a guy who started out small. Now he's getting into the business full-time. He wants to use our eggs, and all Vermont products, including wheat that's grown up near Burlington."

Scout and Matt believe that pooling resources is ideal for CSAs. "A lot of folks don't join CSAs because they think the products are too limited, so it benefits everyone if more than one producer is involved," says Scout.

Someday Farm is a small, diversified farm that supports a family of seven, an institution that has become an integral part of its community. By changing when necessary, by adapting where possible, and by growing what's good for the land, Someday Farm is living proof that CSAs can move beyond bare economic survival to sustainable economic viability.

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Local Harvest CSA, New Hampshire

Local Harvest CSA: A Cooperative CSA

In the eleven years since this study of CSAs began, the farmers who initiated them have adapted the concept to fit their specific needs. Some have simply grown much larger, as expertise and confidence increases. Others have added services to their members, such as fresh poultry, baked goods, or produce from neighboring farms. One CSA--Good Earth in Weare, NH--adapted by creating a cooperative CSA in the Concord, NH area, and is thus no longer an individual CSA.

"As our children got older, we realized that we couldn't continue the CSA as it was constituted," reports David Trumble, Good Earth's owner. "We approached NOFA-NH about the idea of combining CSAs. We received a SARE grant in March 2002 for $7200, which allowed us to spend the next year to find farmers to form a cooperative CSA. It took our farmers' group a year to work on the details of incorporation. We then incorporated under a specific NH statute for marketing."

Good Earth is one of the nine farm members of the CSA co-operative Local Harvest. "Two of the farms are quite small," says Trumble, "so it's really seven farms doing most of the work. In fact, one farm did about 20% of the business. Most of us did about 15%. We also have a baker as part of our co-op."

The multi-farm nature of Local Harvest gives its member CSAs the economic benefits of efficiency. As Trumble reports, "Each one of us can specialize in six crops and grow a lot of them and grow them well. This allows each farmer to make a decent return. I took in $12,000 in 2003 through my CSA, which provided root vegetables and greenhouse tomatoes. My whole labor bill this year (2003) was $800."

The farm members of the co-op CSA enjoy the basic advantages of a CSA: guaranteed market, control over pricing, and, with Local Harvest, some cash upfront if the farmer chooses to receive an advance. "This is a great model for a CSA. It allows us to develop a community of farmers. We lose out on the close contact with members that we used to have when the CSA was at our own farm, but our new group CSA has tried hard to have the farmers meet as many members as possible on pick-up days and at group events we sponsor," says Trumble.

Local Harvest, which is legally organized as an agricultural marketing cooperative, charges its members a 20% administrative fees. This amount is taken out of the total sale price for each of the goods sold through the coop. "Working together as a multi-farm CSA has reduced many of the administrative worries," Trumble reports. "The coop employs several people to do the various tasks involved in running itself. I'm the Production manager in charge of crops. We all get paid for our various formal jobs, such as bookkeeper, site coordinator, and office manager, but we then volunteer our time as board members and officers of the coop."

Local Harvest rents a church hall in Concord for its Wednesday afternoon pick-ups. "The farmers bring their produce in between noon and 2 p.m.," Trumble says. "The shareholders arrive by 2:30 and keep coming until 6:00. We have a site crew that cleans up and takes whatever is left over to a soup kitchen. We have meeters and greeters who figure out which members go through the big share line and which through the small share line. The two different lines have blue tubs with signs on them saying something like 'Take 1 of this' or "Take 2 of that' as the members go down the line. There's always a few of us working the site to answer questions."

In 2003, its first year of operation, the Local Harvest CSA had 128 shareholders, and is aiming to grow to 185 shares in 2004. "Our ultimate goal is 250-300 families," says Trumble. "If it gets much bigger than that, we'd have to go to a second pick-up day or sell to markets." Local Harvest had $70,000 income in sales in 2003.

Local Harvest offers two share sizes. In 2003, a small or single share was $425, and a family or large share was $635. Costs for both shares cover an 18-week season. "Towards the end of our 2003 season," says Trumble," we realized that we had a lot of produce left, so we offered a 5-week extension. Seventy-eight families took us up on that. We charged $120 for the small shares and $180 for the large shares for the end-of-the-season extension."

In addition to the crops provided by the CSAs and the bread from its baking partner, Local Harvest provides meat from non-CSA farmers. "The meat distribution is done in the church parking lot," says Trumble. "One farmer has sheep, others have turkeys, chickens, and cows. The meat farmers come to our distribution site and take names for delivery the next week. Sometimes we'll even have a meat week."

The farmers of Local Harvest are not involved in the livestock sales, which are provided as a service to their shareholders, not as an outlet for the member CSA farms. Local Harvest also offers bulk items from bakers and farms, taking 20% of those sales as their "rental fee." Trumble notes that selling meat off of the farm entails much more regulatory involvement now. "There is even an agency focused on bioterrorism," he says.

Last year, the co-op required that each of the farmers to work on site one time a year. This requirement was dropped for the 2004 season in favor of encouraging farmers to come and meet the customers as often as practical. "We had several potluck suppers on site, and we published a 2-sided weekly newsletter, featuring articles like 'Cabbage from Bob.' We try to make up to our CSA members that it's not as personal as it used to be."

All of the original farms of Local Harvest are signed up to return in 2004. And there are two new farmers for the 2004 season. One of them worked on a coop farmsin 2003 and is starting his own farm business. The other is a new farmer attended coop meetings and worked on site until she felt ready to get her own farm going.

"It's been great from my point of view," says Trumble. "We hoped that each farmer would grow a smaller number of crops, but grow lots of them. We've developed the ability to work well as a group, and we handle issues as they come up. We spent a full year getting to know one another as we worked out the details."

Local Harvest is producing a publication for SARE about their coop CSA. Two members submitted a grant to SARE and received notice that their grant was approved. They will be working on the publication this year. "NOFA-VT is interested in what we're writing because they would like to have something like it," Trumble says. For more information on the concept of a co-operative CSA, he suggests checking out the Rolling Prairie Alliance in Wichita, "a great resource."

Good Earth: The CSA and beyond

Trumble opened his original CSA in 1989 as Green Truck CSA in Francestown, NH. He rented a180-acre farm, which had 15 certified organic acres. In 1995, Trumble bought the 19-acre farm in nearby Weare, NH that he uses today, but did not begin producing from it until 1998. During his first year as the farm's owner, he planted cover crops for soil nourishment, and then left the land to regenerate itself for two more years.

Good Earth CSA provided shares for 120 members, with about two-thirds local and the remainder living in Boston. By 1996, what with the constraints of running the CSA at one property, building his new farm at a different property, and handling the joys and distractions of being a new father, Trumble had to reduce his drop-off locations from six to three. "It just wasn't tenable anymore. My wife has a job in the school system, so I became the stay-at-home parent because she got better wages and benefits."

Trumble maintained Good Earth as a CSA through 2002, although membership that last year was down to about 25 shares. "Good Earth is now a bedding plant business," says Trumble, "and we sell a few vegetables here and there." The bedding business provides about half of the farm's income, while its participation in the cooperative CSA provides the other half.

Trumble maintains three greenhouses, two for his bedding plant business, and one very large one for cucumbers and hothouse tomatoes. He also grows root vegetables in the fields. "As I get older I find I would rather do crops that are easier in some ways--greenhouse crops are physically easier and so are root crops. I like root crops because they're forgiving. You can dig them up in droves rather than constantly picking. I can keep them in the barn, the greenhouse, or the cooler. It's much easier. Before I had a CSA, I grew zukes and cukes, which is intensive labor, so intensive that it wasn't sustainable for me. That's something for someone who is younger or has a big work force of young people," he says.

Good Earth CSA: Looking Back

For Trumble, as for so many others, capitalization is the major obstacle that keeps people from becoming CSA farmers. "A CSA does give you cash flow," he says, "but that is not enough to get the job done and keep it going year after year." He has also observed, as have so many other CSA owners, that there are limits to the number of people who find a a CSA share appropriate to their needs. "A lot of people want the choice they can get at the supermarket. If you price yourself too high, you lose out on customers, and if you price yourself too low, you can't make a living at it."

Trumble feels that CSAs require from farmers a huge commitment of labor and knowledge of how to grow so many crops. "In order to make a living, you need to get pretty large, and at that point there are different ways to sell what you grow, such as at farmers markets or with your own farm stand. Then you have to consider that most of the farms with a lot of land are in rural areas, but the markets are in urban areas. That requires a lot of coordination," he concludes.

"If I were starting all over again," says Trumble, "I'd find another farmer to work with and share the crops. My lack of money and equipment, coupled with the issues of growing 40 different crops, were major obstacles when I began the CSA." Today his two small children are his major concerns. "We love the kids and spending time with them. They like to participate in the farm, especially in the greenhouse. We do over 90% of the work ourselves, and that also helps to keep the farm profitable."

In helping to develop a CSA co-operative, Trumble did start over again in a certain sense. By doing so, he provides another successful variation of continuity and change in the CSA landscape.

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Buttermilk Falls Organic Farm, Schaghtioke, NY

Buttermilk Falls Organic Farm: The CSA

Janet Britt, a Cornell graduate in plant science and the proprietor of Buttermilk Falls Organic Farm CSA, worked as a market gardener for seven years before starting her farm that serves the Capitol District in eastern New York state. While organizing her CSA, Britt worked for a year with Robyn Van En, one of the earliest CSA farmers in America, at Indian Line Farm in South Egremont, MA.

In the 2003 season, the Buttermilk Falls Farm CSA had 110 members, with an 85% retention rate from the previous year. "We still have 40-50% of the people who started with us 16 years ago," says Britt, "which is pretty amazing when you consider how often people move."

Only about 10% of the members actually pick up their shares at the farm. The other 90% pick up their produce from delivery points in Troy, Albany, Delmar, Clifton Park, and Saratoga. "Because of where we are, from the beginning I assumed people wouldn't make the drive out here. After all, it's not ecological to have everyone drive out here." The Troy, Clifton Park, and Saratoga deliveries are picked up by shareholders, which saves Britt driving time.

The CSA member who delivers to Troy also helps pack up the produce before delivery, gaining a full share in return for her time. The Saratoga delivery member figured out that the cost of delivery was about half of what her share costs, so she pays Britt for half a share, with the remainder being "paid" in donated time. The Clifton Park delivery members "are just nice people who volunteered to deliver to their area. They're very supportive of organic agriculture," Britt points out.

In Albany, the dropoff point is the back porch of a Quaker meeting house. "We make a donation to the meeting house in thanks for giving us the space. One of our earliest shareholders was involved in Quaker meetings, and volunteered the space to us. Actually, the space is used by a lot of different groups," she says. In the other towns, dropoff points are a porch or garage of a centrally located shareholder.

In 2003, about 25 of the CSA members took advantage of a $35 discount if they provided six hours of help during the season at the farm. "In a CSA with 100 people, I expect different levels of participation," says Britt. "Some people have been members for 16 years, and have never visited the farm. Some I've never even met. Then there are the people who've become my friends. They're much more involved."

The original support for Buttermilk Farm CSA came from the Albany area. "We never really put a lot of energy into developing support in Mechanicville or Schaghticoke because I had more contacts in Albany. I was new to this area, having grown up in the Finger Lakes region. Besides, a lot of people around here have their own gardens. I could have gotten more local shareholders, but we didn't really need them and I didn't have the time to spend to attract new people," says Britt. "Even though most of our members live some distance away, they still relate to our farm as a pretty, quiet place," she points out.

Buttermilk Farm: The Challenges of a CSA

Not having enough money up front to buy land and equipment was a major challenge for Britt as she began her CSA. "If I were starting out now, I would somehow try to secure more capital to make investments up front. I'd put in a proper greenhouse, and get proper equipment. Doing that would have helped me avoid a lot of trying to scrape by and make do, and end up spending twice as much in the long run," Britt says.

Nonetheless, Britt is also quick to acknowledge that even if she had had the resources to buy the "right" equipment, she probably wouldn't have known what she needed. "There is a steep learning curve when you start out on your own. I'd had one season at Indian Line Farm. I worked for organic farming guru Alan Chadwick in Virginia for a year, and then worked on farms in Colorado and Missouri that were trying to work with Chadwick's methods. So even though I had seven years of farming experience before I went out on my own, I didn't have much experience working with machinery. I knew how to grow plants. It's the scale of the operation that was so different," says Britt.

Britt, who had been gardening and farming since college, hadn't built up enough money to buy her own land, nor was her family in a position to help her out. "If I were starting out again, I would have tried to figure out how to buy land sooner. But, in reality, a lot of that was tied up with my personal indecision. I didn't know if I'd go back to my family's land, and I was in a relationship with a non-farmer who was rebuilding a house about 45 minutes away from the farm. I think it would have been preferable if I'd bought even a small amount of land. But mostly it's hard to pay for land through farming, although some people have managed it. There are a few examples of farms in our area where people have started out and built a successful business, and then they can buy the farm," she says. But it isn't often, she also notes.

In the 16 years since Britt opened Buttermilk Falls CSA, the popularity of farmers markets has soared. Farmers markets have become so successful, in fact, that CSA owners such as Britt feel that a lot of farmers who might have tried CSAs have opted for farmers markets instead. "Farmers markets are making a lot of money, and the farmers who may view CSAs as producing a limited income have turned to the lucrative markets," she says.

CSA farmers tend to be idealistic. As Britt puts it, "I think that CSA farmers need to have a mindset or social view of what they're trying to accomplish with their farming. One of the things I've noticed as organic farming has grown and people are trying to make a real living at it, is that farming needs to be viewed as a business, and a CSA model might not be the best business decision."

Although most of Britt's shareholders get their deliveries elsewhere, she believes that it is best when people come to the farm. "It offers much more flexibility and opportunity in how we do the distribution. It's easier to offer more products from other farms that way. If people came to the farm, we'd set it up for them to pick some of their crops. And I'd have a cut flower area for them, too. As it is, we have to pick every bean, every strawberry. Pickup at the farm would save us a lot of labor," says Britt. She likes the personal connection with her shareholders, and knows that they feel the same way. "I like knowing the people who are eating the food I grow. People like to come to the farm, particularly with their kids."

A major challenge for CSA farmers is the wide range of produce they're required to grow for their shareholders. The intensity needed to sustain a seriously diversified crop is such that a nascent movement has begun among CSA farmers to form CSA associations or partnerships. Agreeing wholeheartedly with this sentiment, Britt hopes to coalesce with other farmers when she re-establishes her CSA in Washington County. "Think about it. It's really hard to grow 50 different crops well all the time. Different soils on different farms can grow different crops better than others. It's easier to grow fewer crops in larger amounts."

Britt is expansive on the subject of what it takes to be a CSA owner. "A lot of farmers like being outside growing plants, and being on their tractor. The whole delivery and interaction with customers isn't always at the top of their skills or interests. You have to enjoy that aspect of a CSA, or it becomes just a pain in the neck. It takes management skills in organizing the CSA so people are happy and satisfied for the whole season. You have to market yourself, educate the public about yourself," she says with the voice of much experience.

Buttermilk Farm: The Future of CSAs

After 16 years of being the sole proprietor of a successful CSA, Britt has well-developed opinions on the future of the CSA movement. "CSAs are a way of life," she says. We have to make business decisions, and some people do not think of a CSA fitting in with a bottom-line business decision. If you're approaching a CSA from a philosophical or social viewpoint, you're more likely to create an organization that works in the long run.

As Britt puts it, "I believe we can change our attitude towards food, the environment, and land use. I think CSAs are real pioneers in helping people to start to change their relationship to food, how the land is owned, and how its production is controlled. There is value from moving away from private ownership to where we as a society value our agricultural land, where our society chooses to support local and regional food supplies."

Britt describes herself as an optimist and an idealist, and has the experience to back up her beliefs. "Last year I met a farmer on a SARE committee. He's a commercial vegetable grower in New Jersey, and a very knowledgeable, good grower. He kept hearing about organic production and CSAs, so he took a couple of his acres and put them into organic production, and then turned that section into a CSA. He loved it. I wish conventional growers would listen to him as a positive example of someone trying to run a CSA, and having a good experience with it."

Janet Britt: 2004 Update

Britt ended her association with Buttermilk Farm and her CSA at the end of the 2003 season. The farm's owners, who live in Iowa, decided to sell the property, and Britt and her husband were not in favor of taking on the level of debt they'd incur by buying the farm. " Two years ago I had breast cancer. I should have taken a year off, but I didn't. But during the past year, I simply got worn out when it was hot. Nothing specifically tied to the CSA, just the farming part of it. When you're farming, you just have to do things, and I didn't always have the energy to get things done the way they should be," Britt reports.

Britt hopes to keep farming, but keeps asking herself: "Do I want to farm with other people or farm in a different way, or do something else altogether? I've always loved this work, and still do. It's not as if there's something else I want to do instead. It's much more a feeling that it's necessary to take a little time to reflect, and think about where I'm going from here. And I'm able to do this because my husband is willing to support my time off."

In 2004, Britt and her husband bought a house on seven wooded acres in Cambridge, NY, in Washington County, about 30 minutes north of Buttermilk Falls farm. "I turned over my CSA members to a local farmer who is interested in growing his CSA business," says Britt. "He may also lease this farm for the season with an option to buy it. I hope he does since the CSA members are very attached to the farm."

For the 2004 season, Britt will be raising seedlings for sale at the Honest Weight Co-op in Albany, and will work part-time for her friends Martha Johnson and Seth Jacobs, organic farmers at Slack Hollow Farm in nearby Argyle, NY. "I plan to find some land to grow on next year (2005), perhaps in partnership with some other farmers. I'm still very attracted to farming and the CSA model. It strikes me as a very positive way to approaching agriculture while building and educating the community. Even though it was a hard decision to make the change from running the CSA, I must say I'm looking forward to less physical work this year," says Britt.

Nonetheless, Britt believes that it will be difficult not to have her CSA. "I feel quite connected to the people I've served. I identify so much with being a farmer, and being on this farm. When things don't look good, I get low. It's a bit extreme, I know, but it's been a good experience. I'm trying to look at this as an opportunity for positive change."

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Food Bank Farm, Hadley, MA

Food Bank Farm: The Mission

Most young people who have chosen farming as their profession within the last 25 years, have done so with more than just agriculture in mind. Typically, they believe in responsible, or sustainable, farming, using organic or biodynamic principles. They see agriculture as a "calling," as a means of production that educates the next generation to the wisdom lost in the previous one--food is seasonal, not global; better living is not through chemistry; and that land is not naturally renewable without careful stewardship. Thus, we must respect, not violate, ancient principles of husbandry.

Michael Docter, manager of Food Bank Farm in Hadley, MA, and one of two Oberlin graduates who now manages a CSA within this group study, took the general principles of sustainable farming and mixed them vigorously with his deep-seated goal of alleviating hunger to produce a successful farm that supports itself, even while giving away about half of everything it produces to the Food Bank of Western Massachusetts.
The Food Bank distributes more than 6.5 million pounds of food each year to 420 nonprofit organizations in four western Massachusetts counties. Of this total amount, the Food Bank Farm contributes between 250,000-300,000 pounds per year.

Food Bank Farm: The CSA

The economic backbone of the Food Bank Farm is its CSA, which was initiated to provide food for the Food Bank. "Initially our goal was to grow food for the food bank, and the CSA was a means to that end," says Docter. "It's still our goal, and it's why we're still here. But the CSA has taken on its own life." Indeed, the farm and its CSA are now operated independently of the Food Bank, from which the farmland is rented.

In 1993, at the beginning of this study, the Food Bank Farm CSA had 215 shares, with income of $102,000. Ten years later, in 2003, the farm had grown to 660 shares, bringing in $250,000. Although farm income more than doubled, the price of individual shares has essentially kept pace with inflation in the food sector.

"When we started, there were few models for highly diversified agriculture that was mechanically based and efficiently run," says Docter. "We had to help create that model by pioneering a large scale CSA that could take advantage of economies of scale."

Part of the original learning process at Food Bank Farm involved learning how to grow the majority of crops through Direct Seeding. "We transplant only a few warm weather crops and the rest go in by seed. While this requires a highly developed weed management system, we find that it produces a healthier crop and reduces our labor costs". Growing 50 acres of vegetables requires a good weed control system. We do as much as we can with a tractor-whatever is left, gets pulled by hand. The farm does not have a greenhouse, so they buy in all of their starts. "I'd like to grow some winter greens, " says Docter, "so we might throw up a field house this winter."

Retention rates tend to increase when members visit the farm. This is one of the reasons some farms require their members to work-especially if the farm is located far away from its membership base. But, as Docter notes, "Our members already come to the farm every week to pick-up their vegetables, so we don't need to require them to visit."

Docter notes that "'Free' labor from members can be very expensive if you consider the administrative costs of managing such a program, and the very slow speed at which these good-natured but unskilled members will work. If we then had to discount their share price according to their work output, we would have to first assign an hourly value to their work, which, in most cases would be very low. And I doubt that our members would find this very flattering. So, we do most of the work on our farm with our highly skilled farm crew and compensate them fairly. When we need large numbers of volunteers in the fall to bring in the 40,000 pounds of squash we donate to The Food Bank, we usually rely on groups of students coming from the five colleges in our area."

The farm employs seven full-time equivalents who work during the season, which is June 1-October 31. Winter shares are available in November and December, with turkeys and local products for sale at Thanksgiving. The farm sponsors a full moon potluck dinner every month during the summer. And it offers a 'petting zoo' with two goats and a dozen chickens. They did have two pigs, but they were slaughtered the weekend before the interview.

Docter is only one of the CSA operators interviewed for this study who acknowledges that mistakes were made as the CSA began, but that the mistakes were an integral part of the learning process. "If I were starting out again," says Docter, "I wouldn't set a goal as generous as 40-50% of what we grow going to the local food bank. Instead, we would probably target 30-40% as a more sustainable out-put.

Just as the CSA has grown in size, it has also grown in sophistication. A trip to Food Bank's website (www.foodbankwma.org) is quite an experience. Although the website is produced by the Food Bank, not the Food Bank Farm CSA, it is the place where one can read the regular newsletter Docter writes during the season. "I try to write well," he says, "and people like getting information about what's happening on the farm." Acknowledging that he has "another five years of farming in me," Docter may pursue writing when he retires from farming.

Food Bank Farm: Challenges

The CSA's major challenge in 2004 is taking itself in a new direction, making the CSA experience more of a one-stop local shop for its members. "We're producing and buying in local products, like eggs, cheese, salad dressing, butter, fruit products, jams, and granola. We're thinking of installing a bread oven," says Docter.

The farm brings in about $400,000 per year, with $250,000 from the CSA and $125,00 in the sale of local products. "That's almost $400,000 going into our local economy," Docter says proudly.

"By branching out, we're accomplishing two things. First, we make the CSA more of a one-stop shop, which increases customer satisfaction. Second, we generate more income which helps us hold onto staff.

At the same time we are pumping thousands of dollars into the local food economy, we can make our operation more viable, and sustain our contribution to the food bank. We're establishing a business for the long haul. We'll do whatever it takes to make it more sustainable. Giving away half of what we grow isn't easy…Over the years the challenge of fulfilling this mission has forced us to be creative."

Docter believes that a sustainable CSA is one that meets the consumers need for high quality food, good service and adequate variety-all at an affordable price. Our larger scale enables us to provide a better product. We have a good location, and people come to us," he says. "For a CSA to succeed," he continues, "it must transcend ideology and make its products so valuable that people will participate year after year. People come in for ideological reasons, but they leave if they don't eat the vegetables. We have to produce high quality food at a price that is competitive in the marketplace. If people don't like the food, they won't stay."

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Roxbury Farm CSA, Kinderhook, NY

Roxbury Farm: The CSA

Roxbury Farm is one of the largest CSAsin the northeast, and has, almost since its inception, been a model to future CSA farmers. Jean-Paul Courtens, a Dutch farmer trained in biodynamic agriculture, founded Roxbury in 1990 on leased land owned by his in-laws along the Ockawamick Creek in Claverack, New York.

In 1991, Courtens was approached by a group of New Yorkers encouraging him to adopt a CSA component on the farm. By 1993, Roxbury's CSA had 250 shares, representing 420 families, with an 85% retention rate from their 1992 season. Four years later, in 1997, farm shares had jumped to 650, again with an 85% retention rate from the previous year. By 2003, after Roxbury had moved to a different location under somewhat different management, it boasted 700 shares with over 1000 members.

In 1999, Roxbury moved to a new farm in Kinderhook comprising a total of 250 acres. Roxbury as a 99-year lease on 150 acres, which is owned by Equity Trust Inc. Courtens shares ownership of 100 acres, the farm house and farm buildings with his wife and farming partner Jody Bolluyt. Both parcels are protected from development and are held under conservation easement by the Open Space Institute. The house is restricted for resale limiting ownership to other future farmers at an affordable price.

In the first years of operation, Courtens planned on Roxbury generating a diversified income. "We (in this essay we refer to "we" as the farmers and members) wanted at least 10% of our income coming from something other than the CSA," he says. "We sold to the Omega Institute for ten years, and to the Culinary Institute of America (CIA). We needed to do a lot of wholesaling and farmers markets to make the farm work financially." By a gradually increasing the number of shares, Roxbury became less dependent on the extra income, and eventually stopped serving most of those accounts.

Roxbury Farm: Membership

Many CSA farmers say their biggest initial challenge was to find members, to get the word out about the advantages of CSAs, to attract people to a new way of thinking about weekly grocery shopping. Roxbury's beginning was different. "We didn't have the problem of finding members, or having to explain to them the concept behind it" says Courtens. "The members found us."

First the Center for Anthroposophy in New York City, and later the Committee for Peace and Justice of the Archdiocese in the Capitol District approached Courtens to bring vegetables to central drop-off places. "We were one of the first CSAs that was willing to travel, which allowed us to go beyond the limits of a local membership. Now about 85-90% of our members live outside of Columbia County. By going north up to the Capitol District and south down to New York City, and by being relatively low in price, we found that it wasn't hard to fill our membership. And it still isn't."

Courtens says that Roxbury's biggest initial challenge was finding distribution sites in New York City. "We have distribution centers in Westchester, Harlem, the Upper West Side. Our pickup sites are very important to us because their location makes a significant different in attracting members. For example, we've moved from one site in relatively upscale Loudonville to relatively downscale Watervliet. Although our pickup site in Watervliet is a beautiful church, a lot of the old members did not renew as some of them did not perceive it as a good neighborhood," Courtens reports. "This doesn't mean that our sites aren't very diverse, as we have sites in Harlem as well as on the upper West Side. But even more important to a good site is a good site coordinator, who is always a member. The site coordinator is like our farm ambassador to our members," he adds.

Although serving low-income families has been an important part of Roxbury's mission from the beginning, Courtens remarks on the difficulty in fulfilling that goal. "In Harlem we have subsidized shares, with funding from the United Way. But we've just not been successful at selling to lower income people, even with subsidies. When you realize membership provides organic produce, it's a good value. But when people compare it other foods, feel they can save more money by buying exactly what they need on sale at their local grocery store. Our surveys tell us that most of our CSA members are college educated with average annual income in the $60,000 range. I think that between the lump-sum upfront payment and the perceived vanity of organics, Roxbury has not been successful in getting through to many low-income families."

In the early years of the Roxbury Farm CSA, says Courtens, "There was this youthful enthusiasm to volunteer and put in a lot of time. They were enthusiastic. We benefited greatly from our early volunteers. But it wasn't sustainable. People got tired of doing the data base, of not being compensated. What we did at the beginning wasn't wrong, but we evolved into something else. Now the farm runs a much greater portion of the mechanics of the CSA. We do all the administration and take in most of the payments. That's very different from the way we started. It's increased our costs, and, frankly, we don't particularly enjoy doing it, but we feel there isn't much of a choice."

Courtens notes that although the volunteer support is no longer what it was at the beginning, members have not lost their connection to the farm. "Our members raised $250,000 towards the purchase of the 150 acres of farmland that will now be available to farmers forever, since the 99-year lease can only be held by an active farmer," he says.

Roxbury Farm: CSAs in the Current Environment

"CSAs are a very inefficient production method because of the diversity of crops that you need," says Courtens. "People want to grow crops that they know can make them money, but with a CSA, you have to grow what your members want. We grow crops like sweet corn and tomatoes because they're so important to our members, not because they have proven to be a good return."

In addition to farm duties, Courtens notes that running a CSA "…can be time consuming to answer emails, return phone calls, keep track of payments, go to meetings, write newsletters, host farm festivals. At times we experience it as a burden. And the work is not always appreciated or even acknowledged by members, as they have high expectations."

Nonetheless, Courtens also argues that CSAs are very efficient in terms of their distribution and retail aspects. "The diversity makes it possible to be a CSA farmer, but mechanizing the operation requires a tremendous input of specialized equipment since each crop has different needs. We spend more time in the washing and packing house because our members require higher quality and greater convenience (such as pre-bagging vegetables)."

Courtens' view of the inherent problems of CSAs is, as we've seen, shared by the other long-term CSA farmers in this longitudinal study. As Courtens notes, "The diversity, the necessity of growing 60 different crops, having a huge amount to harvest and distribute every week is very complicated, and probably too complicated for small growers." As this interview was taking place, Courtens was seated in front of his computer, which has a planning program specifically designed to insure that Roxbury has the right amount of crops each week. The computer program helps him plan the "ideal share" each season. As he says, "A CSA for 100 members is a lot of work. One with 700 members is just not as much work."

Cooperation among CSAs is high on Courtens' list of priorities. "I've been preaching for over 10 years that there is no future for CSAs unless we cooperate. The sad thing is that there is still so much distrust among small farmers. We have overcome a lot of that in our area by cooperating with other farms in training our apprentices. We are buying green beans from nearby Markristo, and fruit from neighboring farm Love Apple, sold as a fruit share. Farmers need to recognize that if they sell to another farmer that they can't charge the same price as they do at a farmers market. Another solution is bartering produce, which is something we consider doing more of in the future," he says.

For Roxbury Farm, as for the other CSAs, labor is one of the biggest challenge in farming. But, as Courtens notes, "Continuity of labor is not a CSA problem per se, but of any small, diversified farm in the northeast. Up here we're dealing with a six-month season, so labor is an issue no matter how you sell or distribute your crops. The short season is a huge limiting factor for us in making the farm operation pay for itself. The equipment is used only half of the year, and the buildings sit around unused for six months. But the costs are year-round. So we have to be twice as busy in the other half of the year to make up for that. The further north you go, the bigger the problem. How to extend the northeastern farming season continues to be an issue."

One possible solution for northeastern farms in general, including CSAs, is to extend the season by putting vegetables in storage, while supplementing the share with some green vegetables from the south, or as some people try, out of unheated greenhouses. The farmer needs to have very good storage facilities. But, as Courtens asks, "Is the storage cost effective on a CSA scale with 750 shares? You need proper storage facilities, and that means a different cooler for onions, for squash, for sweet potatoes, potatoes, and root crops. The cost for all these different costs is prohibitive."

For Courtens, the CSA is the mechanism that "allows the farm to be the farm. It's the relationships between the members and the farmers that's the real thing. It's nice to have friends among your members, and some members have become friends. The economic and non-economic benefits of a CSA are weighed equally as they influence our decision to continue as a CSA. The CSA makes it easier to work according to our principles. Ultimately we will continue to be a CSA farm because it makes sense to us and our members."

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Caretaker Farm, Williamstown, MA

Caretaker Farm : The Land

Sam and Elizabeth Smith bought the 35.4 acre Caretaker Farm in Williamstown, MA, in 1969, and began farming it commercially in 1972. The Smiths, now in their late 60's, are in the process of transferring ownership of the farm to the Williamstown Rural Land Foundation, a local community land trust.

"A community land trust is the same as a conservation trust, but the former allows for human habitation," says Sam. "We're donating a significant value of our farm to the land trust, and also asking the community for help. The community should have a stake in it, and some sense of responsibility. So fund raising is what we'll be doing in 2004."

"It's difficult knowing that sometime soon we have to hand over the land to someone else," says Sam. "But if we don't, we'd end up like other farmers who reach a point when they're too old and too tired to do anything other than selling their land."

Sam and Elizabeth are undoubtedly the most overtly philosophical farmers in this group of ten CSAs. Their sense of mission permeates their conversation naturally, with each of them frequently raising questions about the nature of community, stewardship of the land, and an equitable distribution of resources. "I want young farmers to go into a CSA knowing they have security in their land, but also anticipating what they're going to do when they put their hoe on the rack. How are they going to honor the land so that the wider forces of economy, of society don't interrupt the continuity of the land," says Sam.

The Smiths, known widely among CSA farmers as eminences grises, note that there is a changing perception among younger CSA farmers about owning the land they farm. "The issue is security rather than ownership," says Sam. "You don't have to carry the debt load," adds Elizabeth. "It's important to look at different models for acquiring land, to realize that ownership is only one option."

Caretaker Farm : The CSA

Why a CSA? "That's a no-brainer," says Elizabeth. "It's the only way to go if our planet is going to survive." This rock-ribbed belief in the power of community farming has not diminished in the years since the Smiths converted Caretaker to a CSA.

In 1990 the Smiths notified their commercial customers that they would cease farming "for the public" at the end of that season, and that in 1991 Caretaker Farm would become a CSA. "We convened a group here at the farm in September 1990 with over 100 people. I was nervous that it wouldn't work. But people knew about us and our farm, and we got a good response. Our core group came out of that gathering," says Elizabeth. " I believe it's absolutely critical in forming a CSA to engage the community you'll be in. We met weekly for months developing a proposal that described the arrangement, the cost, the description. Then the core group organized a large presentation for the press and wider community. That was the beginning of our campaign and the deepening of the farm's relationship to the community. "

The Smiths opened Caretaker Farm as a CSA with 100 households, and by 2003, they had grown to 225 households. "That's pushing the limits of our farm's capacity," says Sam. "And there are families on a waiting list," adds Elizabeth.

If the Smiths were starting their CSA afresh, they would ask a higher price for the shares. "It's been a common mistake new CSAs to price shares too low," says Elizabeth. "People are nervous about starting a CSA. They're fearful of being right in front of the public, and they don't want people to think they're being gauged. Both beginning and experienced farmers have two worries when launching a CSA: they don't want to be seen as asking too much, and they worry that they can't produce enough or that they'll underperform, not live up to their promises."

So how does a new CSA farmer know how to price shares "right"? "Ask what other CSAs are asking from their members, and use that as your index of what you should charge," says Sam. "But be sure to make allowances for your own inadequacies during the first year of the CSA. If you think you can grow enough food for 50 households, then plan for 25 instead. Go way below, and give yourself high margins of error. Realize that there are unintended consequences that can include both nature and your own mistakes. You have to be prepared to make sacrifices. It's better to get off on a good footing with half the households, and make sure they're happy with their membership. They'll be the basis for your recruitment of new members," says Sam.

The Smiths point out that the original conception of a CSA was that the community would share both benefits and risks with the farmer. "Some CSA startups have been faulted because they took too literally the notion that the community would tolerate their mistakes, that members would understand acts of God. Well, the community doesn't support inexperience," warn the seasoned Smiths.

Although many CSA farmers also operate farm stands, sell at markets, or to restaurants, the Smiths foreswore anything other than their CSA members when they changed from commercial to community farming. "We felt that once we were a CSA, that must be our primary focus," says Elizabeth. "We believe that there is possible conflict if we have a farm stand or sell to the local co-op. We wanted to do a complete transformation of the farm from a commercial system to a community farm."

Caretaker Farm : The Owners' Background

Elizabeth and Sam Smith are both college graduates. Sam taught history at Mt. Greylock Regional High School, and was an administrator and (omit: part-time) teacher at Berkshire Community College. When the Smiths bought Caretaker Farm in 1969, their intent was to become more self-sufficient, to raise all of their own food, including meat.

Two years later, Maurice Champagne, chef-owner of nearby restaurant Mill on the Floss, needed some vegetables in a hurry. "He drove over here and was thrilled to see what we were growing. By then we were growing more than we needed, and he was our first customer," says Sam.

The Smiths expanded their vegetable market in the next few years, and Sam discovered that farming was his true vocation. "In the spring of 1975, I resigned from BCC, and have been farming full-time since then. That year we expanded our marketing to restaurants and small grocery stores. In the early 1980's, Elizabeth started a bakery, so we had organic vegetables and baked goods. In the mid-1980's, we opened a farm stand, which grew into a very good clientele," says Sam. But the Smiths wanted to feed their local community. "Selling to restaurants simply wasn't satisfying. We felt like we were just feeding tourists."

Caretaker Farm : Labor

To Elizabeth, as to many farmers, CSA or otherwise, labor is a critical concern. "Being very practical about it, I must say that we've been able to succeed because of our apprentices and their labor. The question now is if we can depend on apprentice labor into the future," she says. "We've been good at it because we take care of our apprentices."

The Smiths have been training apprentices for 25 years, and are responsible for educating a large number of CSA farmers. "Twenty years ago we had ten applications for every opening. They used to say it was harder to get into Caretaker Farm than into Harvard," notes Sam. "But now we have two applicants for every position," says Elizabeth, sounding a warning signal about a dependable source of apprentices in the future.

Caretaker Farm is part of the original CRAFT program, the Collaborative Regional Alliance for Farmer Training, a program for farm interns and apprentices developed by farmers in Massachusetts and New York. "Being a part of CRAFT glues the farmers together, and is a good draw for apprentices," says Elizabeth.

Two of the alumni of the CRAFT program are Dan Kaplan, manager of Brookfield Farm CSA in South Amherst, MA, and Katie Smith, of The Farm at Miller's Crossing in Hudson, NY. "They were able to start their own enterprises because they'd gone through an adequate learning process," says Sam. "Dan did a lot of apprenticing. He must have had an inner sense as to what he needed, and then he was ready to go out on his own."

"Labor is always going to be a very key factor," says Sam. One way many CSAs, including Caretaker Farm, address the labor issue is to recruit volunteers from among its members. "We have volunteer days," says Sam. "We have specific activities with a beginning time, snacks, and an ending time. This fall we had five or six people putting in 5,000 cloves of garlic in a half day. We had everything set up, and then the volunteers poked the cloves into the ground. We've also had people harvesting potatoes and carrots. We had volunteers stacking beets, cutting off the tops, putting them into boxes. We create jobs for people who can't lift, like popping garlic or topping dried onion leaves."

Developing volunteers is an art, whether it is for a CSA or an art museum. The Smiths are quick to acknowledge that Wade Luhn, the co-farmer at Caretaker for the past three years, has a knack for encouraging volunteers. "Wade is always thinking of ways to involve people, while I just want to get the work done," says Sam. "I think young farmers need to know if they want to engage and enthuse their members. Wade has been very helpful in bringing in members to help out at critical times."

Elizabeth notes that Elizabeth Henderson, a long-time CSA farmer at Genesee Valley Organic CSA in Newark, NY, and co-author of Sharing the Harvest: A Guide to Community Supported Agriculture, is "the master of volunteers. She knows how to engage her community,"says Elizabeth. Henderson requires every farm member to work for 10 hours or more over the season. Contrast this with Caretaker Farm, which requires all adult members to contribute a more modest 4 hours per year of volunteer work. "The most common way to do it is to be at our distribution site, to be an aide to fill the bins, make sure that everything is available, hold babies, tell people where they go for the pick-your-owns, oversee the sign-up book--that sort of thing. Some people come to volunteer simply because they enjoy doing it," says Elizabeth.

As Sam notes, "The more you engage local people in participating in some of the farm labor, the healthier the farm will be."

Caretaker Farm : Obstacles and Rewards

To Elizabeth Smith, the major obstacle Caretaker Farm faced as it moved from being a commercial farm to a CSA was that "the community was not able to understand the full power of what we wanted to do, the power behind our idea. CSAs have the potential for changing society and culture. We tried to do this, but, as yet, we have failed," she says.

"We created an open budget with our steering committee. The group pretty much decided the cost per share. My ideal was to have membership based on the ability to pay, with a pledging process where everyone in the community gathered together and pledged their support towards the farm, knowing that if everyone paid this amount, we would make the budget. But our community couldn't handle that model. They wanted to know exactly how much they had to pay, and exactly what they would get for that amount. They wanted a quid pro quo. They were simply buying a product. We're still trying to educate them that they're not buying food, that instead they're supporting a farm that will feed them," says Elizabeth.

To Elizabeth Smith, the major obstacle Caretaker Farm faced as it moved from being a commercial farm to a CSA was that "the community was not able to understand the full power of what we wanted to do, the power behind our idea. CSAs have the potential for changing society and culture. We tried to do this, but we failed," she says.

Sam believes the major obstacle facing young farmers today is the price of land. "For CSAs to be successful, they need to be near populated places, and that's where land prices are high. If you didn't have to worry about being near the population, you could afford the land, but then you'd be too far away." Elizabeth adds that housing presents another obstacle. "Even if the land is donated, how affordable is the housing?," she asks.

As a former teacher, Sam excels at distilling the issues that confront beginning CSA farmers. He notes, "Most CSA farmers are not brought up on farms. They come to it with special motivations and idealism. But I say 'Don't let your idealism get you into this
if you're not fully aware of costs as well as the joys of farming. Farming is one of the greatest callings there is, but it has also been the calling-with the exception of the landed few-of one of the most oppressed classes for thousands of years."

The complexity of CSAs can be a significant obstacle not just to the farmer running one, but to the individual interested in membership. "From the members' viewpoint, a CSA requires them to make an adjustment in their schedules, in new ways of eating. That's a significant drawback which must be overcome. CSAs aren't in tune with McDonald's and the American way of life," laments Sam.

The questions Sam poses to apprentices and others interested in starting a CSA include: How small can a CSA be and still be viable? How much of the farm's productive capacity is devoted to its CSA members, and how much, say, to restaurants or farmers markets? Can you farm where you want to live? Do you want to replicate food projects and models in urban centers? Are you interested in involving the community as well as students and apprentices? Do you want to provide food for low-income groups? In short, Sam asks, "Where is your passion? What is going to motivate you? What do you want your farm to be?"

In the tradition of excellent teaching, Sam knows how to ask the right questions. And he knows it's up to the students to find their own answers.

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Luna Bleu Farm, South Royalton, Vermont

Luna Bleu Farm: The CSA as a Small Part of the Farm

Susanne Long and Tim Sanford, co-owners of Luna Bleu Farm, have four streams of income from their 43-acre farm. The CSA provides about 20% of their annual income, sales at the Montpelier Farmers Market provide 40%, wholesale sales to restaurants and co-ops contribute another 20%, and the remainder comes from their livestock.

Farmers market sales have risen considerably across the country, and Vermont is no exception. As Luna Bleu's income from its market sales has escalated, the percentage of income from their CSA has declined. Not only do Long and Sanford sell at a seasonal market, but they also participate in the Thanksgiving and pre-Christmas holiday markets.

"When we started our CSA, our biggest issue--and the one that remains unresolved--is how to get and maintain an active core group," says Long. "We put a lot of effort into creating a core group when we began. We've always tried to do it properly, but it still doesn't feel right."

Long points out that people have started CSAs and then stopped them when they realize how much administration is involved--community outreach, newsletters, endless details. "We just keep doing it because we do. Farmer-initiated CSAs are much more difficult to start and maintain than consumer-initiated ones. Having a functioning core group makes the CSA sustainable," she posits.

Luna Bleu is only one of many farmer-initiated CSAs that has grappled with developing and maintaining a core group. "Part of the challenge of the core group is that the CSA is only a portion of our farm, and not a very big one at that. Getting a core group going and having it become its own entity that doesn't need me to kick-start it has been a problem from the beginning," says Long. "The core group needs me to be its leader, but I can't spend the energy for that in the growing season, when they need me the most. I'm the one who's had to take the initiative, like getting the brochures together and distributed. People have helped by putting up posters, but I've had to be the director, and that's not great."

Long and Sanford have tried different strategies over the years to activate a core group and to involve more members in their CSA. "We want to involve people beyond just picking up their vegetables," says Long. "We used to have pot luck dinners, but hardly anyone came."

Long believes that the absence of a solid core group has become more of a problem now that the farm has grown. "Our whole farm operation is bigger," she says, "and that makes it harder to maintain communication with members. We have 75 households now, which is a good number for us. We'd like to do more in terms of production, but I don't think we can without an active core group."

Luna Bleu Farm: The CSA

Luna Bleu moved from Lebanon, NH to South Royalton more than ten years ago. "Recruiting new members was our biggest challenge," says Long, "because we were a new entity. We didn't come from that far away, but people didn't know who we were. Luckily, though, we are in a very supportive community, so getting new members wasn't as hard as it might have been."

Long and Sanford started their CSA based on their belief in the idea of creating a different economy around farm life. "We don't believe in a straight market economy," says Long. "We hope to get people to understand what small farms are, and involve people in growing food. About half of our members pick up, and the rest get deliveries. We don't have a greeter, but we're always around, and subscribers can see the food in the distance. In the last few years, it's become a big event for people to bring their kids to see the animals, to pick their own flowers, to take some time to browse around when they pick up their vegetables."

Contrary to expectations, the retention rate among those who pick up is only slightly higher than that of people who get deliveries. "The main difference is that people who get their vegetables at the farm have a whole different experience, even if they're not spending much time here.

Luna Bleu's CSA season runs from roughly the second week of June to the second or third week in October. They also have a storage component that extends the season. "People have two options," says Long. "They can either get bulk storage to kept at home, or they can come here every three weeks to pick up what we're storing for them. Our storage season went as late as April last year, and we're going to push it beyond that this year. By April, we should have greens again, and that will make it more interesting."

Luna Bleu Farm: The Surrounding Community

Luna Bleu is nestled in an area that is hospitable to CSAs and locally grown produce. Long points out that a number of CSAs have begun in their area just within the last few years. In one case, a couple who owned a CSA divorced, and the wife moved to the Royalton area to start her own CSA. In another case a couple who service farmers markets were asked by their neighbors to start a CSA, which they did. Yet another CSA began recently when the farmer decided that, with two small children, a CSA would be easier to manage than attending farmers markets.

"We were lucky in starting our CSA here," says Long, "because there are so many marketing options for small-scale farms, for organic farms. This is a very supportive environment. It's easy to get organic products at markets, co-ops, and farm stands. Everyone labels stuff so 'buying local' is a big deal."

Long points out that even in rural Vermont, it's becoming harder to buy land than it was when they moved in ten years ago. "Now people who want to buy farm land are in direct competition with second home owners. That's not the case for dairy farms, but it is for smaller acreages."

In thinking about the connection between the consumer and the farmer, Long describes the different levels of involvement. "The CSA is the most direct, involved, and stimulating because the consumer feels the direct connection with the farm family. The shareholder understands more about the agricultural process--what's the weather doing and other issues that come up on the farm. Shopping at a farmers market is the next level down. And the level below that is looking for your favorite farm's products at the co-ops and choosing what's local. There are some large stores here that are committed to local growers, so a CSA is not the only answer."