COMMUNITY SUPPORTED AGRICULTURE

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Concerns

To many, the CSA concept sounds almost too good to be true. However, the plan does work, but it isn't flawless. "Good gardeners are the key to the whole thing," says Should ice."The consumers are there, but finding capable people who can grow excellent produce on that scale is the most limiting factor in the development of more projects." And it's not all a snap for the growers. While the CSA does assure them of an income, being obligated to successfully grow crops for scores of shareholders creates "a different kind of pressure," Barbara admits.

The Sullivans even decided to eat the same size share that regular members get—and to pay the going price for it. That way they see for themselves how adequately shareholders are supplied ("We eat quite well," Barb reports) and get a few extra "righteous points" for integrity. ("Nobody can say the gardeners ate all the sweet corn," Kerry says, only half in jest.) Another concern is income: Kerry and Barbara together earned about $16,000 last year. (That doesn't include $2,700 from the CSA to start paying back on their equipment investment.)

While that's not a good wage for two people who each put in about 55 hours a week of hard, highly skilled work, Barb and Kerry understand that their "business" is in its infancy and, like many a conventional enterprise, may take a while to pay off. As time goes on, their garden will get more productive, and the membership may grow. The amount of financial support members are willing to provide may also increase once the CSA gets past the confidence-building stage.

Gone are the days

when Kerry thought "Rototiller" was a four-letter word .

The Sullivans are also well aware that if they had started market gardening on their own, they would have had to work even harder—spending many hours finding and supplying markets—and most likely would have ended up with less income to show for it. Barbara points out, too, how pleased she and Kerry are to be part of "a new kind of social concept. It's great to know the people that we're feeding and that are supporting us. It's really important to us to know that the gifts that we take from the earth are going to be used and appreciated. The project also gives us the chance to garden ecologically. to be as gentle as possible to the earth. Any time you raise a crop, you take something from the soil. We want to be able to return as much as possible."

Possibilities

At this point, no one knows how durable the CSA concept is. Once the novelty wears off, will people still remain committed to supporting growers up front, eating seasonally from a garden and making twice-weekly food pickups? Only time will answer that—and it may get many chances to do so. CSAs could be about to hit a boom stage in America. The number of groups expanded from three in 1987 to 10 in '88. Across the country, several other groups are trying to get together to find growers for next year. (The concept has even spread to Japan.) For the present, though, at least a few groups of people in America know exactly where their farmers are tonight, and a few growers know exactly where their appreciative buyers are. And some new rays of hope are brightening the dark landscape of American agriculture.

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