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Kentucky CSAs to prolong search for new customers

By TIM THORNBERRY
Kentucky Correspondent

LEXINGTON, Ky. — Participation in Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) is growing in popularity across the country thanks to more and more consumers understanding the value in knowing where their food originates.

But making an investment in anything these days is a bit uncertain. Still, farmers are seeing an increase in the demand for local products.

A CSA program involves members of a community investing in their local farms to share in the risk as well as the benefits of a local food economy. Commodities usually including fresh produce, meat and dairy products; that’s where the investment part comes in.
Consumers buy “shares” in the farm’s products for a pre-determined amount. The capital is then used for the general operations of the farm and in turn, the investors share in the harvest. Customers pick up or have delivered, those products as they become ready for consumption. The season generally runs, on average, for about 20 weeks per year.

Mark Keating, a lecturer with the University of Kentucky College of Agriculture’s Department of Horticulture, said consumers are looking to this type of food purchasing for the nutritional value and safety of local commodities.

“There is a sense that the nutritional attributes of these products are superior,” he said. “Customers feel it will be healthier food if they buy something organic or something sustainably grown; something that doesn’t come from the conventional supply.”
Keating added that the concern over food safety is now playing an equal role in bringing customers to CSA.

“I have a high degree of confidence in the safety of our conventional food supply, but I have reservations. We’ve seen a cycle in which, for the last three years we could walk backwards and every six months identify a significant food safety alarm, and consumers are responding to that,” he said.

Keating also said that as consumers have become more comfortable with the idea of buying direct from farmers and that the many different CSA models in operation now show signs that the practice will continue to grow.

And grow they have. Locally the numbers are on the rise both in the number of CSA programs as well as the number of participating consumers.

Erik Walles and his wife Gayle operate a 10 acre organic farm in Fayette County and use their CSA as the only method of selling commodities from the farm. Their operation has experienced that growth firsthand.

“There is such an attraction to the farm that many people have missed with their busy lives. There is a bond in a CSA with the farm and the farmer and people look forward to coming out and bringing their families,” he said.

Walles doesn’t come from a farming background but became interested by growing produce as a youngster on a small leased plot provided by the company where his father worked in his native Michigan.

His interest was so great, he majored in agricultural biochemistry at Michigan State University.

Today, the farm is entering its fourth season as a CSA and supports a wide variety of vegetables and berries, as well as herbs and flowers. During the season, customers have a couple of days during the week to pick up their commodity “dividends” by way of a prepared bushel or half-bushel basket.

“My expectations for the farm have been greatly exceeded and it has been wonderful,” said Walles. “I had over 150 families that I took care of this last season. Word is getting out that we have some really good products here and we’re really enjoying the experience here on the farm as a CSA.”

Considering Walles started out with about 35 families, the growth of the CSA is a model any business would want to emulate.

But with any business comes the need for planning and Walles has to plan early to get a handle on an upcoming growing year.
“The nice thing about the CSA is I do all the marketing up front and I have the ability to plan for the rest of the season, but there is always some uncertainty until my members sign up. I really don’t know how a season is going to shape up until I know how many members are going to participate.”

Many of those members, however are return customers, something Keating said is common among CSA’s.

“There has been considerable growth over the last 15 years and I think the core customer base is going to be committed to this. Actually that group has never dropped off. It will never shrink,” he said.

Even with a tough economy, Keating pointed out that the cost of the average share for local CSA’s is actually competitive with grocery stores if you break it down on a weekly basis considering what the consumer is getting.

With the help of the UK Cooperative Extension Service, he has started working with at least nine local CSA’s to discuss the possibility of a collaborative effort to help market their farms.
“What really drives the marketing effort is the farmer. There is definitely a market and farmers are finding it is within reach for them. The food has to carry its own weight but it is the connection to the farm that really lights the fire in people,” said Keating.

A little history

The idea of CSA began in Europe and Japan decades ago as a way for consumers to purchase high quality local foods in the wake of urban sprawl and increased food imports.

In 1984, the movement was brought to this country by Jan VanderTuin of Switzerland who co-founded a CSA project near Zurich. He along with friend Robyn Van En and others formed a group in Massachusetts that has come to be known as the beginning of CSA in the United States.

Their CSA saw an increase from 30 to 150 members within four years. Today sources place the number of CSA’s across the county at anywhere from 1,300 to 2,200.

3/25/2009