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permaculture - Re: [permaculture] What makes a CSA successful?

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  • From: Jacque Greenleaf <jacque@book-woman.net>
  • To: permaculture <permaculture@lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [permaculture] What makes a CSA successful?
  • Date: Sat, 3 Apr 2010 13:48:46 -0700

My CSA - Abundant Harvest Organics in California

Plenty of variety in the box, there's fruit every week, and a wide variety of
add-ons available - it's a co-op of growers in the southern Central Valley
Good mix of the familiar and the novel all year
Good website where you can choose from a long list of available add-ons
(which includes pastured meat and eggs, and farm-produced foods like jam) and
specify vacation dates
Great newsletter with each box, including a couple of recipes

Judging by the late model cars of the folks at the pick-up points, I don't
think many members are low-income.

For the food quality and variety, it's a good deal, but buying imported fruit
and produce at the local KMart would be even cheaper. But then it wouldn't be
organic, and you wouldn't find green pea shoots..

We don't go to the farm, they bring the boxes to local pickup points. It's a
pretty far-flung operation.

We pay by the box, so its a private distribution system more than it is
buying shares in the harvest. Paying by the box would make it easier for
lower-income people to participate, but as I say, I don't see many obvious
low-income folks. They don't take food stamps, they prefer to ding your bank
account or credit card directly, and there are plenty of low-income folks
here who have neither of those things.

If Oz has food assistance programs, can your hypothetical CSA participate as
a vendor?



On Apr 3, 2010, at 4:16 AM, Les Mulder wrote:

> Hello all,
>
> I'm new here and am just in the middle of doing my PDC.
>
> As the main design task for the course, we've been asked to design a CSA
> farm on a disused park attached to a school out in the 'burbs of Sydney, Oz.
>
> I'd be very interested to hear what people think makes their local CSA
> successful (or not...).
>
> Is it having a vast pool of unemployed people in the neighbourhood, all
> desperate for an affordable feed?
>
> Is it having a similarly vast pool of yuppie hippies, all desperate to
> outdo each other saving their bit of the planet?
>
> Is it making the farm comfortable - a cool place to hang out, make pizza
> and catch up with your local mates?
>
> Or is there some other, subtle, perhaps even undefinable aspect that makes
> it a goer?
>
> If anyone has any opinions along these lines, I'd really like to hear them.
>
> Thanks,
>
> Les
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