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LinkedInPosts Tagged: CSA
Customer Engagement: Garlic Braiding Party at Eatwell Farm
Nigel and Lorraine of Eatwell Farm in Dixon go an extra mile to share a taste of real farm experiences with their 500 CSA members and their friends and relations, partly for increased understanding about the farm by their customers and partly to build loyalty and attract new CSA members.
After arriving and getting settled, we all walked out to the garlic field, where we learned how to pull up the bulbs with the stem still attached. We got the hang of garlic harvesting quickly, as the soil had already been loosened around the bulbs, making pulling pretty easy. We picked and pulled and shook off the dirt and piled our findings into harvesting trays to bring back to the packing shed.
After we'd filled a dozen or so trays with our harvest, Connie and Eric, our hosts for the afternoon, let us loose in the next field over, the most beautiful abundant strawberry patch, with instructions to taste and pick what we wanted. No prices, no weighing, just picking and eating of the most delicious ripe and sweet berries. Smiles were everywhere.
Then it was time to learn how to braid. First a little instruction in cleaning off the outer layers of skins, then a short demo on how to braid, and we were ready. We all made a few braids, or tried to make braids. Although the farm sells garlic at their farmers' markets, Connie and Eric again let us know that we could take home as much as we wanted! We felt royally gifted with kindness.
Finally, dinner was ready. The main course was farm-raised chicken, prepared by Lorraine. Rounding out the delicious meal were potluck salads, sides and sweets brought by the visitors. Dinner was followed by a campfire, complete with marshmallows and all the makings for classic s'mores.
camping
Subscribing to vegetables adds diversity to the menu
"We've heard some people say when the box gets delivered, it's almost like Christmas. The kids unpack it and they get very excited," Ryan Galt, professor in the Department of Human and Community Development at UC Davis.
But subscribers should understand being a member of a CSA is not the same as going to the grocery store for their produce. Some suggestions from the experts:
- Be aware there's more growing on vegetable farms than just carrots and potatoes
- Be willing to take risks in the kitchen
- Take time to research recipes and to cook
- Because some farmers need up-front money to start the season, you may have to pay a substantial sum before receiving produce
- Food is provided strictly in season for the farm, so don't expect asparagus in September
Galt said it's also worth asking how the farm is doing financially for committing to the CSA.
"It's hard to ask because it's not a normal conversation topic in the U.S.," he said, adding that the point of CSAs in the beginning was the community figuring out how to help small farmers survive. "Farming is extremely difficult on all ends."
Larger CSAs are typically diversified businesses
A community support agriculture farm (CSA) with a large customer base generally makes a large part of its income selling through more traditional channels, reported Grace Hood on the NPR program The Salt: What's on Your Plate.
The reporter included a comment in the story from Ryan Galt, professor in the Department of Human and Community Development at UC Davis. Galt conducted a study of CSAs in the Central Valley
"Very often the larger farms [with CSAs] actually have a smaller percent of their sales from CSAs," because they have other, bigger points of sales, Galt said. "They're more likely to rely on a huge number of different outlets: farmers markets, CSAs, direct to restaurant, direct to retail and also wholesale."
The story related the tale of Grant Farms in northern Colorado, a CSA with 5,000 clients that went bankrupt in 2012.
"The problem with our farm was not its size," said farmer/owner Andy Grant. "In fact, within the farm, the CSA was probably one of the most dynamically well run, profitable things we did." (The story didn't give the reason for the failure of the enterprise.)
A typical CSA box.
UC's Small Farm Center director comments on CSAs
The director of the UC Small Farm Center, Shermain Hardesty, said there are a number of hurdles California small-scale farmers must overcome to compete in state's highly industrialized food production and distribution system, according to a recent Bakersfield Californian news story. The article, written by Jeff Nactigal, centered on Community Supported Agriculture, or CSA, a system in which consumers pay a monthly subscription and receive a weekly supply of produce, typically organically grown.
Featured farmer Vernon Peterson started his CSA 10 months ago with 50 subscribers and now delivers more than 1,000 boxes of organic produce to 20 cities between Tulare and Simi Valley.
“There’s growing interest in local foods. So he’s taking advantage of the locally produced, and the identity about who’s produced what in the box,” Hardesty was quoted in the article.
She noted that marketing, developing a customer base, offering a steady variety of products and maintaining a customer-service mentality are important elements of a successful CSA.
The article also cited information from "Riding the Organic Wave," by UC Davis Cooperative Extension agricultural economist Karen Klonsky. The publication says organic sales in California are growing at double-digit rates while the number of growers has stayed the same.
Don't miss the video produced by the reporter himself, which is available on the same page as the story, to the left of the text.
