Saturday, June 25, 2011

Community Supported Agriculture

We are off to the Anderson Farmer's Market this morning to pick up our share of produce from Bergefurd's Farm, a family owned farm located in Wilmington, Ohio.

What is Community Supported Agriculture (CSA). It is a way to get locally grown fresh produce every week during the growing season--20 weeks here in the Cincinnati area--for a fixed price paid up front. The idea is you are buying a share in the farm, or a half- share like we did this year, and thus sharing in the risk-reward equation that every farmer undertakes every year he plants his crops. Good season=more food, bad season=less food. We paid $300 this year and receive a bag that is about as big as a Kroger cloth grocery bag with produce in it every Saturday morning. While we are sure to get fresh, healthy, vine-ripened, organically grown food every week, we are hoping that it turns into a cost savings for the year as well. At this point we are only two weeks into it and the pickings have been a little slim on account of the incessant rain that our area received during May, which meant farmers had a tough time getting crops going this year, but will see what comes of it through the summer and into October.

There are several CSA's serving the greater Cincinnati Area. A quick Google search will find you many of them. Here is the website for the one we use: www.bergefurdsfarmmarket.com

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