By LINDA McGURK
Indiana Correspondent

BATESVILLE, Ind. — Local foods are all the rage and across Indiana growers are meeting the demand for fresh produce by forming partnerships with consumers through community supported agriculture (CSA) ventures.

In Batesville, one CSA has successfully grown from 24 subscribers when it was launched three years ago, to an expected 60 subscribers this season. Thanks to the arrangement, the growers have a stable market for their products and the consumers get convenient access to healthy produce.

“The satisfaction level is very high,” said Claire Whalen, president of Laughery Valley Growers, Inc. (LVG). “People who really want healthy food and can’t get it elsewhere go out of their way to get it from us.”

CSAs come in many shapes and forms but are based on the idea that consumers buy “shares” in one or several farmers’ crop, in return for a weekly supply of seasonal, fresh produce. This year, LVG’s FarmFreshCSA offers shares for $400 per 20-week season. The boxes contain six to eight items, adding up to an average of half a bushel of naturally grown vegetables, herbs and some fruit.
“The people who subscribe are people who are willing to try new things. But we won’t put things like kohlrabi or chard in the boxes, just ordinary things that most people like,” Whalen said.

LVG is organized as a farmer-run cooperative with nine grower-members. This year, the success of the CSA has caught the attention of 10 more producers, who have expressed interest in joining the co-op or becoming contract growers for the CSA. Having that many growers requires much coordination and advance planning, Whalen said, but it also makes for great variety and some backup in case one grower is having problems with their crops.

 “They get to sell their produce and have a direct market. If they grow it, they know that we buy it,” she said.

Although the growers aren’t necessarily certified organic, they use natural growing methods. “When we give the growers a market and ask that they don’t use pesticides, then that’s an incentive for them.”

The USDA doesn’t track the number of CSAs in the country, but according to the Census of Agriculture the value of direct sales of agricultural products to consumers in Indiana increased from $18 million in 2002 to $22.3 million in 2007. The term “direct sales” refers to roadside stands, farmers’ markets and door-to-door sales, which would include CSAs.

The number of farms participating in direct sales has also gone up, from 3,205 farms in 2002 to 3,576 in 2007, and the average value of products sold increased from $5,606 per farm to $6,297 during the same time period.

Anecdotal evidence and listings on Internet sites such as Local Harvest at www.localharvest.com  also suggest the number of CSAs in Indiana is on the rise.

“If you checked the list (Local Harvest) four or five years ago, there was hardly anything there. Now there are 48 CSAs listed in Indiana,” said Jerry Nelson, an extension educator with Purdue University’s New Ventures program. “People didn’t used to know what a CSA was and now they do. That tells me that there are more of them out there, as well.”

Nelson believes Indiana’s 79-percent increase in small farms (1-9 acres) in the latest Census also reflects the popularity of farmers’ markets and CSAs, as Baby Boomers are retiring and returning to the farm to grow produce and raise livestock for the fresh market.
“A lot of families want to support local growers and buy food that is fresh and safe,” he said. “You don’t have to be high-end to join a CSA, you can be an average-income family.”

“Farmers’ markets continue to grow and it appears CSAs are growing too,” said Victoria Wesseler, a Lebanon, Ind.-based food writer and advanced master gardener. “I think the consumers are driving the trend. And I do think it’s a trend, not a fad.”
Wesseler started the website Going Local at www.goinglocal-info.com in 2007 with the goal of becoming the go-to site for local-food lovers in Indiana. She said people choose local foods for many different reasons, including taste, nutrition, food safety and sustainability.

“It’s also an economic development issue. If half of Indiana’s families spent $6.25 per week on local foods, that would generate $300 million per year for the local Indiana economy,” she said, adding the economic impact doesn’t end there. Research shows that the multiplier effect causes every dollar spent in-state to be circulated and re-spent locally several times, further stimulating the local economy.

In the Laughery Valley, the growers’ cooperative hasn’t just supported economic development by establishing a CSA and several farmers’ markets, but also sponsored several community-oriented special events, such as a farm festival, a cooking demonstration and a growers’ seminar.

Whalen, the co-op’s president, advised other communities who want to follow its example to build on the skills of the people who are interested in local foods to further the movement. For CSAs, she advised starting small and making sure at least a few people will follow through.

“And take the burden off the farmer – the people who want to eat the food should organize it (the CSA),” she said. “Ours is pretty complex because we have so many growers involved.” But, “there’s no one model for a CSA – that’s the beauty of it.”