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Farmer’s Markets And CSAs

A clear sign of the Real Food Revival is the growth of farmer’s markets. According to the U.S.epartment of Agriculture, the number of farmer’s markets increased more than 80 percent from 1994 to 2004. Nationwide, more than 19,000 farmers are selling their produce only at farmer’s markets, and both farmers and customers are enjoying the benefits.

In 2002, the USDA reported that only 20 percent of the more than $600 billion consumers spent on food produced on America’s farms actually went to the farmers, but when farmers sell directly to the consumer, they are able to keep all of the profits.

Farmer’s markets give consumers a chance to buy the most flavorful and freshest local produce, which can lead to savings of other sorts — from bulk buying opportunities to sparing the planet the environmental costs of shipping poorer quality foods long distances. Typically, farmer’s market prices compare to those at natural food stores, and trips to either usually are far more fun than a shopping trip through a supermarket. Many farmer’s markets also sell such items as pasture-raised meat and artisan cheeses, baked goods and fresh flowers, and offer live music to enhance the enjoyment of the experience.

When consumers buy directly from farmers, it helps them to realize they share common concerns with growers. “Visit the farm, too,” Madison says. “This is where your food comes from. When you see that land where your food grows, you connect with it and start paying attention to things like zoning laws and water rights.”

Consumers and farmers in growing numbers also are adopting “subscription farming” called Community Supported Agriculture. In a CSA, customers contract with a farmer to receive produce for a season. CSAs first appeared in Switzerland and Japan in the 1960s and have been successful worldwide: In 2003, a single Danish CSA reported annual sales of $25 million. The United States’ first CSAs appeared in the mid-1980s, and the idea continues to gain popularity.

CSAs work on an unusual model; by agreeing to pay a certain amount for produce regardless of whether it’s a good or bad year, customers share some of the farmer’s risk. Some years, CSA subscribers may not get every crop they are expecting, but they always take home much fresher, healthier produce at a lower cost than they could get at a typical grocery store. Subscribers know that their grocery dollars actively support their local economies, and they get to discover such delicacies as perfectly ripe strawberries or delicious oyster mushrooms in their weekly bags of produce.

One farmer who sells through a CSA is Hall Gibson of Putnam County, N.Y. Gibson says he backed his way into organic agriculture in 1978 when his wife’s family home — a 1795 farmstead — was in danger of being sold to pay taxes. He decided to take early retirement from federal civil service and “save the farm.” Gibson may have been the first organic farmer selling produce at New York City’s Greenmarket, and his Ryder Farm CSA now enrolls 80 members. “At first, nobody around here seemed to care about organics. But people in the city were more sophisticated and started buying it,” he says. “Then the locals came up and said, ‘Why don’t you sell it to us instead of taking it all the way into the city?’ I was very happy about that because I’ve been interested in CSAs for a long time.”

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