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FRANKFORT, Ky. —Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) farms in Kentucky are invited to sign up with the Kentucky Department of Agriculture to network with other CSAs and tap into the Department’s marketing resources.
By registering with the Department, CSAs will make it easier for consumers to find them, KDA marketing specialist Janet Eaton said.
“The Department’s marketing office receives inquiries from people in the state who want to buy shares in a CSA, people who just moved to the area and want to find the farms, and out-of-state customers who want to buy shares as a gift,” Eaton said.
“Registration is not regulation,” Eaton emphasized a letter sent to farms thought to be CSA operations. “KDA does not seek in any way to regulate your businesses. We want to offer our resources to help you reach your goals.”
Eaton said she wants to gather information about the industry from CSA farmers so the KDA can determine whether CSAs are a viable alternative for other producers, including those attempting to diversify their operations from tobacco.
“We want to identify the pitfalls, so the same mistakes won’t be made over and over,” she said. “The same things we do for farmers’ markets we’d like to do for CSAs.”
The KDA has lobbied on behalf of farmers’ markets with other government agencies to improve grant opportunities, form policies that affect the markets, develop new markets, and provide technical assistance and promote educational activities at farmers’ markets.
CSAs work like this: people buy shares before the start of the growing season. Depending on the type of CSA farm, they can buy fruit and vegetable shares, beef shares, egg shares, even flower shares. Then when the crop is harvested, the farmer offers the fresh bounty to the shareholder on a weekly basis. The customer may have to pick up the weekly basket or the CSA may choose to deliver.
“The farmers benefit by getting their money up front,” Eaton said. “The customers benefit by being promised the best the season has to offer.”
“It sounds perfect to me. I don’t have to go to the market; somebody will pick me a basket or box of fresh vegetables with a recipe card that tells me how to cook them. What a wonderful gift for newlyweds or elderly people.”
CSA customers can become very attached to “their” farm, Eaton explained. Close ties between the customer and the farmer are typical. Some farms encourage the customers to invest some of their time in the farm activities to strengthen this bond.
CSAs are a relatively new idea in farming that has been gaining momentum since its introduction to the U.S. from Europe in the mid-1980s. The concept originated in the 1960s in Switzerland and Japan, where consumers interested in safe food and farmers seeking stable markets for their crops joined together in economic partnerships. Today, there are more than 400 CSA farms in the U.S., most of them near urban areas in New England, the mid-Atlantic states, the Great Lakes region, and the West Coast.
Shareholders share in the risks of farming, including poor harvests due to unfavorable weather or pests. By direct sales to community members, growers receive better prices for their crops, gain some financial security, and are relieved of much of the burden of marketing.
“If you are a CSA or know of one, give me a call,” Eaton said. “I’m really hoping to hear from people.”
Eaton can be reached by phone at (502) 564-4983 or by e-mail at janet.eaton@ky.gov.
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