By Chris Aldridge

Kentucky Ag News

Rootbound Farm began in 2013 in southern Oldham County, but the decision to make it a CSA (community supported agriculture) farm goes back nearly two decades.

“The story starts about 20 years ago when Ben (Abell) was studying agriculture at the University of Kentucky (UK) and spent a semester working on a farm in California,” Bree Pearsall said of her husband, Ben. “That was one of the first CSA farms in the country.”

CSA has grown into a popular model that allows consumers to buy locally grown, seasonal products directly from farmers. In this system, farmers offer a set number of "shares" to the public. A typical share includes a variety of items, such as vegetables, fruits, eggs, meats, herbs, baked goods, and flowers. By purchasing a share – similar to a membership or subscription – consumers receive regular boxes or baskets filled with the farm’s freshest harvest. This direct connection fosters support for local farms and provides consumers with fresh, high-quality produce.

Ben, who began working on the UK horticulture farm after graduation, was so inspired by the CSA model that he talked UK into starting one just over 15 years ago.

“He brought the idea of community supported agriculture to UK,” Bree said proudly. “There were some other farms in the state already doing CSA, but Ben was a part of starting it at the UK farm.”

Ben, who is from Frankfort, ended up managing the UK farm on the corner of Man o’ War Boulevard and Nicholasville Road before he and Bree got married and bought their current farm near Crestwood, Ky.

“We decided our goal as a family was to start our own farm business,” Bree said. “We moved our family to the Louisville area about 10 years ago, and we started Rootbound Farm. We are in now our ninth season as a CSA.”

Rootbound Farm has evolved from a certified organic, full-season CSA to sort of an à la carte system with varied time commitments.

“Our first year, we had 75 families that joined us as members,” Bree remembered. “We had a pretty traditional model of CSA, which was members signing up for the full season.

“As our CSA has evolved over the last nine years, it’s very different now. We have about 800 weekly members now across four counties,” she said, noting Rootbound makes weekly deliveries to drop-off locations in Crestwood, Louisville, Frankfort, and Lexington.

“Our CSA now is customizable, which means members get to manage their share with an online platform and choose the items to be in their box,” Bree explained. “So, when we pack those 800 boxes every week, each one is different based on what the members choose.

“We have different size boxes now – small (for one to three people), medium (two to six), and large (four or more) – and we also have different levels of commitment that people can make. Our minimum subscription is four weeks so people can just try it. Many of our members stay with us using a recurring payment plan for our full season, which we've also extended as well. We're now doing the CSA for 32 weeks (May through December) of the year.”

“A CSA inspires people to try things that they maybe wouldn't have chosen off the grocery shelf or is not even available at the grocery,” she said, offering a pair of examples. “Two of our veggies that people always rave about that they hadn't tried before are delicata squash and kohlrabi, and they love it!”

Rootbound is intent on changing an alarming statistic: farmers today make only 14 cents for every dollar of food sold in American grocery stores.

“One hundred percent of the CSA payments come directly to our farm,” Bree said. “We are then using that money to grow our crops and pay our staff. We're also investing in other local businesses.”

The hundreds of boxes that hold Rootbound’s weekly deliveries are made and branded by a Kentucky company. 

“One of the things I find hopeful in this CSA model is that we can really bring the value of what the consumer is spending and pay the farm first,” she added. “There is no middleman with us.”

Kentucky Proud Fall CSA week is next week, Sept.16-20. To learn more and find a CSA near you, visit www.KYProud.com/csa.