CSA shares

[slappy]

I've seen a few people here mention CSAs. I've looked into them locally and I just can't get behind them. It works out to about $40 a week, which is more than I would normally spend on veggies per week, and it takes away the choice. I guess some people like to be surprised, but I prefer to plan. Am I missing something? Are CSAs cheaper in other parts of the country? I know they are local, organic, etc, but I can't seem to justify the price.

[OtherJen]

The one we're trying comes out to $20/week for a half-share, from a small farm in a more rural part of our county. I signed up back in February because it sounded like a fun way to get a bit more variety in our summer diet. I tend to get in a cooking rut in the summer. Now I'm glad I signed up, because that's one food source that will hopefully be consistent (in quantity, at least).

We signed up for an urban harvest CSA (various farms in Detroit) a few years ago and I think the price was about the same. I only stopped because the drive downtown in weekday rush hour to pick up the CSA was a hassle. This CSA delivers to the suburb next to ours.

[NotJen]

Participating in my local CSA was pretty expensive.  I never would recommend it as a cost saving measure for anyone.  I enjoyed it a lot while I was working, but cut the expense this year since I don't have an income.

Mine was easy to plan around - got the box on Thursday, so I knew what I had on hand when I planned my grocery shop over the weekend and made meals for the following week.

[BECABECA]

The CSA we get is a bit more expensive for each item than I would normally buy from Trader Joe’s. We originally signed up for one because we were stuck in a rut, veggie-wise, and needed to be forced to cook a wider variety of veggies, so getting a random box of veggies helped us expand our veggie horizons. But we canceled after a few years, since we learned what we liked and Trader Joe’s is walking distance and easier since I buy the prewashed, prechopped stuff.

But at the moment, I don’t want to go to the grocery store, I don’t want to add to the strain on the grocery supply chain, and I don’t mind taking extra time to prepare food since I’ve suddenly got lots more time at home. So I signed up again. It’s very convenient, gets delivered right to my doorstep, and even offers eggs as an add-on. Between the CSA and a couple of bulk dry good purchases from Food Service Direct online, I haven’t had leave the house for groceries.

[SquashingDebt]

I don't get my CSA to save money - I do it as part of a conscious effort to spend my food dollars in ways that align with my values, which includes supporting my local food system and local economy.  (I also, for example, buy organic and fair-trade when possible, and only buy locally-raised meat - quite different from a lot of people on these boards.)

Check out www.harvie.farm to see if there's a CSA in your area - that's the platform that hosts my current CSA and a feature that I love about it is that it lets you customize your share each week.  That way I never get the veggies I don't like and can opt to get what I want for the week (within the range of available veggies).  There are also some CSAs that are basically a weekly credit where you can pick out the veggies you want each week from their market stand or a display set up on their farm.  That also provides a lot more choice.

[Cranky]

There is a big variety in the way CSAs are set up and run, but it’s really not about getting cheaper stuff - it’s about supporting local agriculture and labor and not shipping your food across the country.

[mm1970]

It depends.

Our original CSA, we had for 15 years.  It ran $19-25 a week.  It was local and organic.  I ran the numbers a few times, and it was a few dollars a week cheaper than if I'd bought the same (non-organic) groceries at the grocery store.  That CSA shut down due to the drought, but they recently started up again.

After they shut down, I switched to a similar service.  We have a few CSAs in town, but now we have 4-5 produce delivery services.  These work LIKE a farm CSA except they pull from multiple farms.  Thus, you get a little more variety.

One of our services (we get two, we spend about $66-70 a week on the two), gives you 11 items a week, and each week there are a list of 4-5 other items that you can swap out.  So, there is SOME choice.  Occasionally on the actual day, something isn't available, and they substitute (like getting fennel instead of radishes).  The other service, there are no subs.

It's not a complete surprise, they tell you what you are getting ahead of time.  Both have add ons, meaning if you really want carrots this week but aren't getting carrots, you can pay for carrots.  Both allow you to skip a week.  If you look and see a bunch of chard and spinach and think "no way", you can skip it.

It's been almost 20 years for me now (started in early 2001).  I find that I have much more ability to cook different things.  That's good!
Also, the food is far fresher.  The heads of lettuce from a local farm can last up to 2 weeks in the fridge. 
The food tastes far better.
I support local farms.  What do I want to see in the world, and in my county?  I want farms.  I want to be able to buy from the farmer.  If I don't buy the stuff, then they will all go away. 

The other positive, during COVID, is less shopping.  Both of my services almost immediately got swamped and had to cap off their new customers.  The others in town also.

Also: no plastic.

[nancy33]

I just signed up for a weekly local produce box with option to get fresh caught fish from local morro Bay with it. OMG the fruits, veggies, and fish are some of the best meals I have had since I was a kid and my dad fished in the Monterey bay and my parents always had a huge organic garden. The taste is so much better than grocery store food there is really no comparison

[englishteacheralex]

We just jumped on the CSA bandwagon after considering it too expensive for many years. Covid has adjusted our priorities and it's now very appealing to have a bunch of super fresh produce that we don't have to shop for. It's a bit more expensive (a box of six things is $25 but then we add on a million other things, I think because the novelty of it is still wowing us) but wow! We just got our second box on Wednesday and the produce is awesome! Since we're in Hawaii, we're sadly accustomed to very, very old produce from the grocery stores because everything spends so much time on a boat to get here.

Local produce, holy smokes it's soooo good. I think this will be a permanent thing for us, even though it's a bit more expensive. I didn't realize zucchini could be so sweet. And the fruit! And the corn! Super worth it here in Hawaii. I don't know what took us so long, besides just being cheap.

[zygote]

Most of the reason I sign up for my CSA is ethics. I like that I can support a local farm that uses organic, sustainable farming practices. The particular CSA I join prices on a sliding scale, so my purchase helps enable others with very low income and/or food stamps to get high quality produce too.

I get a half share, and it's 20/week for easily enough fruit and veggies to last me the full week. I think that's very reasonable. I live in NYC, and I easily spend that much on produce each week, even at a place like Trader Joe's. The weekly farmer's market in my neighborhood is definitely a lot more expensive, to the point where it's not realistic to get all my produce there every week as much as I would like to support it.

[seattlecyclone]

We've been CSA members for the past several years. This summer we're actually doing two: one for fruit and another for veggies. The total comes out to $45/week. We haven't done this fruit CSA before, but we did this veggie one last year and it provided more than enough to feed our household of five. I even preserved some of it for later. We just finished the last of the pickles I made from CSA cucumbers last year and we still have a few pint jars of kimchi in the fridge that I made from CSA cabbage and daikon radishes last fall. I expect to do a bit more of the same this time, plus some delicious fruit jams to go on peanut butter sandwiches through the winter.

$180/month for all the fresh produce our family can eat seems like a pretty good value. We could perhaps spend a bit less if we stuck to the supermarket, but it wouldn't be a significant cost savings and the variety and quality would both go down.

[KBCB]

I love my local CSA. They have multiple size options and you can choose a box every week or alternating. Half shares are about 20 and full shares are about 35. The box is completely customizable where you can switch out anything for options in the store using a point system. I would not be able to buy as much food from the grocery for the price. They are organic, local and even have free pick your own event of berries and beans. There are many other CSA options available on my area and I am so glad I found and tried the one I use. I think for it to work you need to find the right one.
 I take a full share every other week which ran $400 for the season (I also payed for a donated share in that price, my choice to do so). The full box I get evey other week feeds my family of two adults and one child for two weeks and sometimes more.

[KBCB]

There is a big variety in the way CSAs are set up and run, but it’s really not about getting cheaper stuff - it’s about supporting local agriculture and labor and not shipping your food across the country.

.       
                                                                                               
 I second this completely. Yes yes!!

[Catica]

There is a big variety in the way CSAs are set up and run, but it’s really not about getting cheaper stuff - it’s about supporting local agriculture and labor and not shipping your food across the country.

But why is everything so much more expensive if there is no middleman and food is not being shipped across the country?

[Cranky]

Because there’s no economy of scale. Agribusiness is a whole different thing. Look at how much winter produce is shipped in from Mexico or South America. At those prices, the people actually growing it aren’t being paid much.

Why are t shirts at Walmart $5?

[SquashingDebt]

It's also usually much higher quality - it's easy to ship tomatoes when they're picked green and gassed to turn red before selling - and that gets you a much different eating experience than juicy picked-that-morning tomatoes from your CSA.  Also, if not organic, most CSAs are at least managed much more holistically (aka with less default pesticides) than conventional grocery store produce.  This might not affect the health of the eater too much either way, but it drastically affects the health of the farm workers and their families - that's the main reason I choose to eat organic when possible.

[Avolonte]

There are a few options in our area, and they all vary. The one we have currently works out to about $30 a week. We get a lot of organic produce for that price (no choice, but mostly standard things), plus $5 to spend at the stand. It may be a little cheaper than buying all organic at the grocery store, but we do it to support our local farmer. We are very happy with the selection, the quality is great and it gets to us within 2 days of being harvested. We had another CSA a couple of years ago which had too many greens and stuff we don't like (fennel) each week. The farmers were great people, but we didn't renew it. I'd find out as much as I can about a CSA (reviews, pics of sample boxes from prior years on their website or Instagram) before committing.

[imadandylion]

If the goal is to support local farms and get seasonal/fresh produce you can also just shop at the local farmer's market and/or shop at your local co-op if you have one. They source locally, generally. At least that's been my experience with local grocery stores and farmer's markets.

[seattlecyclone]

If the goal is to support local farms and get seasonal/fresh produce you can also just shop at the local farmer's market and/or shop at your local co-op if you have one. They source locally, generally. At least that's been my experience with local grocery stores and farmer's markets.

My experience here in Seattle is that the farmer's markets and food co-op both tend to charge more than what you would pay for the exact same stuff in a CSA box. The farms offering CSAs are often also present at the farmer's markets, so an apples-to-apples comparison really is possible. It makes sense too. Running a farmer's market stand has costs (like wages for the person running the stand, a tent and tables and other necessary equipment, risk of some produce going unsold and spoiling) that aren't present with a CSA.

[markbike528CBX]

@slappy , OP, please define acronyms in original post.

I clicked on the thread thinking it was about Confederate States of America bond fund shares.  Very curious, especially as I'm a Northerner.

[SailingOnASmallSailboat]

@markbike528CBX CSA= community supported agriculture. Usually, buying shares in a crop that has yet to be harvested. You buy in before the season starts, guaranteeing the farmer a return and also supplying some consistent income. You get fresh produce as it comes in. Good year? Lots of food. Not good year? Not so much. It helps spread the risk that the farmer is taking.

[imadandylion]

My experience here in Seattle is that the farmer's markets and food co-op both tend to charge more than what you would pay for the exact same stuff in a CSA box. The farms offering CSAs are often also present at the farmer's markets, so an apples-to-apples comparison really is possible. It makes sense too. Running a farmer's market stand has costs (like wages for the person running the stand, a tent and tables and other necessary equipment, risk of some produce going unsold and spoiling) that aren't present with a CSA.

Interesting. I've done a comparison and the equivalents of what I would obtain at the farmer's market or the local co-op (same farms) generally end up the be about an equivalent cost to get a box with the same or similar in-season items. Averages about $27 at either said location or to get a CSA box, but with the box, we would have to go to some inconvenient location to pick up or pay an additional $7-10 rate to get it shipped home on a weekly basis. It's more cost-effective and enjoyable for us to walk a few blocks to the co-op instead or sometimes the farmer's market, which is literally every other day in different locations in the city during the spring-summer. Plus, we get dividends sometimes. I'm glad the CSA method works for you. I think it's a good idea in general to benefit farms and I have used a CSA in the past, but it ends up not very cost-effective for us in this area. We live in an agriculturally abundant region in California.

[mm1970]

There is a big variety in the way CSAs are set up and run, but it’s really not about getting cheaper stuff - it’s about supporting local agriculture and labor and not shipping your food across the country.

But why is everything so much more expensive if there is no middleman and food is not being shipped across the country?

Cranky answered this already, but ...

a farm down the road, or an hour away, with a dozen or a hundred acres is nothing like the big farm thousands of miles away.
- They don't have economies of scale.
- Depending on location, they need to make enough to last a year (even here in So Cal, with year round growing season, you grow less in the winter).
- That family of four needs to pay rent and feed their kids.

[mm1970]

My experience here in Seattle is that the farmer's markets and food co-op both tend to charge more than what you would pay for the exact same stuff in a CSA box. The farms offering CSAs are often also present at the farmer's markets, so an apples-to-apples comparison really is possible. It makes sense too. Running a farmer's market stand has costs (like wages for the person running the stand, a tent and tables and other necessary equipment, risk of some produce going unsold and spoiling) that aren't present with a CSA.

Interesting. I've done a comparison and the equivalents of what I would obtain at the farmer's market or the local co-op (same farms) generally end up the be about an equivalent cost to get a box with the same or similar in-season items. Averages about $27 at either said location or to get a CSA box, but with the box, we would have to go to some inconvenient location to pick up or pay an additional $7-10 rate to get it shipped home on a weekly basis. It's more cost-effective and enjoyable for us to walk a few blocks to the co-op instead or sometimes the farmer's market, which is literally every other day in different locations in the city during the spring-summer. Plus, we get dividends sometimes. I'm glad the CSA method works for you. I think it's a good idea in general to benefit farms and I have used a CSA in the past, but it ends up not very cost-effective for us in this area. We live in an agriculturally abundant region in California.

I also live in California.  The CSA we used was quite a bit cheaper than the farmer's market, when we used it.  It was never inconvenient to go pick it up because it was a farm between work and home along the commute.  (That's the one that shut down.)

For the last 5 years, we've used produce delivery from the farmer's market.  Once I got used to delivery, I was hooked!  It helps that the CSA was no longer an option.  While we have farmer's markets 6 days a week, the only one that was convenient to me was the Saturday morning one.  I LOVED going to that one, but for the last several years, Saturday has been my long run day.  It's not been terribly convenient to go after spending a couple of hours on my feet.

[eliza]

One thing to keep in mind is that Farmers Market does not necessarily equal locally grown/produced.   Here's an interesting expose about a market in Canada, but it happens in lots of places.  https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/farmers-markets-lies-marketplace-1.4306231

My old market in DC had a mix of local farmers and vendors that were clearly selling produce bought wholesale.  Some of the produce sellers were very open about what they were selling, others less so.   The local market in my new town is a producers only market and everything must be grown/made within a 75 mile radius.  Most markets have their vendor rules on their website if it's something you care to dig into.

[Frugal Lizard]

I initially felt our CSA was pretty pricey compared to grocery store But then I actually go the first box.  The quality was so superior and the variety was amazing.  Everything is picked the day before or day of.  Most of the items are the high end version - rainbow carrots, beets with the tops.  Many types of squash and greens that I can't get anywhere else.  When compared to the farmer market - The CSA was way cheaper. 

We are not doing our CSA this year because I have gotten good enough at my own garden that I don't need to buy a CSA any longer.  But I will miss the variety and the social aspect of the CSA.

[nessa]

I belong to Imperfect Produce - they're a community based "CSA" of sorts that helps prevent food waste, their boxes are made up of "ugly" produce, changed branding, etc. I saw them on Instagram and I like their sustainability and community support philosophies.

I searched my area because I was SURE they wouldn't deliver in my area (California desert, halfway between LA and Las Vegas). Sure enough, THEY DO! I'm signed up for the weekly Small Organic box, but I skip every other week because that's just too much produce for one person.

The list of available products comes out every Monday around 1pm my time, they pre-make a box based on my preferences and then I can edit it to my heart's content. There's a $35 minimum threshold and I've never had difficulty meeting it; I average about $40 every two weeks. I can add in staples (pre-packaged stuff), and they have meat and seafood sometimes but I'm veg so I can't comment on prices. My deliveries are on Fridays, I worked with them to get the box set in the shade until I can get home (I'm still Essentially working right now).

Its cut down on my time spent traveling to shop (nearest grocery store is a good 25 minute drive) and I can flexibly plan my meals based on what I decide I want in the box.

I have gotten the smallest onions ever, probably the biggest carrot In The World, blood oranges for 50¢ a pound, raw nuts for a steal, and specialty vegan foods I can't get locally.

It fits my values (community focused, sustainable) and its actually helping me reign in my grocery budget.

[YoungGranny]

Our old CSA in MI ran us $21 a week. It was a 'farm-stand' style so each week at pick-up we got to choose between 7-13 items (usually pick 7/8 per share). I found that it was more expensive weekly early in the year when I was just getting greens/onions/radishes but a bargain later in the year when I was getting fruit/mushrooms/squash. I also was able to stock up on storage crops like onions/garlic/potatoes/apples that lasted through a good chunk of the winter and I got a great deal on additional canning tomatoes and cucumbers. This CSA I found to be a particularly good deal, the food was incredible, and I felt like I could plan well enough with weekly emails plus a choice.

Our current CSA in IL is $33 a week. Volume wise is probably similar to our old one but no choice on product and no bargains for canning tomatoes/cucumbers. I also don't get near as much garlic as I used to and buying it over the winter made me appreciate the stores I used to have (I really love garlic lol :)). Still for living in Chicago and having pick-up within a block of my high-rise I'm pretty happy with what I get - it's certainly cheaper than the nearest farmers market.

CSA's work really well for my husband and I but I've learned they don't work well for everybody. We like a large variety of vegetables and often things we get in our CSA I can't always find easily in grocery stores (fancy mushrooms, husk cherries, etc). Plus the taste of local produce is AMAZING and we struggle going back to out-of-season or picked-too-early veggies aka we've become food snobs ;).

We also like to buy into the CSA early in the year since I know it helps local farmers with their seed costs and the cost of getting fields ready. Then the weekly produce is our 'dividends'. For us, it seems about average to what we'd spend anyway since I'm a veghead and we don't waste any of the food. I think for pickier people or people who don't care about a large variety of veggies it is harder to manage. We know it's a splurge and our bare-bones grocery expense could be cheaper but for us we don't mind paying for the quality and after being CSA members for 7 years now we do feel like our diet has improved dramatically. I personally find it harder to meal prep without one because I'm like 'ARGH WHERE DO I EVEN START?'. Everyone is different just wanted to share my experience :)

[Eowyn_MI]

I have occasionally purchased CSA boxes from a farm that doesn't require a season-long commitment.  I would do a regular CSA if I didn't have a large garden at home.  As it stands, there is a lot of overlap in what I can grow myself and what I'd get in a CSA box. 

If I did purchase a CSA, I would view the cost as voting with my dollars for local farms.  I do currently participate in a herdshare for milk since I can't keep a cow or goats at home.