The phrase “food miles,” which is how far food has traveled before it ends up on your dinner table, has become increasingly prevalent, especially among environmental advocates and proponents of supporting local food economies.
While many in the Hudson Valley support the “eat local” philosophy by buying food from farmers markets and local shops, some are going further and joining Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) farms.
CSAs or “subscription farms” market their farm products by asking consumers to become farm members and pay in advance for a season”™s worth of farm products. Some require members to help out with work on the farm, but most make that a voluntary option.
CSAs share the risks of production by selling farm shares or memberships in advance of the harvest. This advance sale helps farmers cover up-front expenses for seeds and equipment, while also assuring a market for their products. In return, consumers receive fresh products and they also become more directly connected to their food source, proponents say.
“It”™s probably been 10 years or so since we”™ve started hearing about (CSAs),” said Teresa Rusinek, the horticulture and agriculture issues educator for Cornell Cooperative Extension of Ulster County. “They”™ve gained popularity since then.”
In Ulster County, there is a concentration of CSAs in the New Paltz area, she said.
“There is a community of people there who are interested in CSAs,” she said. “A lot of people who join them want to feel connected to where their food is from.”
Another advantage of being part of a CSA is being able to get the freshest possible produce, she said.
Rusinek added that for those who don”™t live near a CSA farm, buying from farm stands and farmers markets is a good option to help support local agriculture.
Ken Kleinpeter, the director of farming facilities at the Glynwood Farm in Garrison, thought of starting a CSA when he came there three years ago.
He said Glynwood, as a not-for-profit organization, had always done programs out in the community, and he wanted to have a program that brought the community to Glynwood.
“We originally did it as a pilot project; we”™re doing it slowly and providing really good service as we grow,” Kleinpeter said.
He said the Glynwood CSA allows its members to work on the farm as an option, and many volunteer to do that.
Kleinpeter said there is a growing interest in the CSA and there is a waiting list to buy shares into it.
The Glynwood CSA is relatively small, he said, and at its maximum will probably be able to accommodate 75 members. Others are much larger and Kleinpeter believes they can be viable with the increased awareness of CSAs.
“There”™s a sense of community, people make friends, the kids are playing, that”™s a very powerful aspect of it,” he said. “Part of our mission here is for people to know what really good food tastes like.”
CSA farms can come in different variations.
Jim Hyland, president of Winter Sun Farms in New Paltz, operates a CSA of sorts that offers its members the chance to have locally grown products during the winter when they are out of season.
Hyland purchases fruits and vegetables from local farms and stores them in a facility in Poughkeepsie.
Members of Winter Sun Farm can purchase shares of the produce for the winter, with the farmer who supplied it also receiving a portion of each share bought.
Hyland believes that the concept of knowing where food comes from is becoming more important to consumers.
“That”™s a powerful relationship that people are going back to,” he said. “It”™s really a visceral connection to the land and the people that grow on it.”
Lucy Joyce, agriculture issue leader for Cornell Cooperative Extension of Orange County, agreed that sentiment has much to do with the rising popularity of CSAs.
“There is a feeling of it being ”˜my farm”™ in a positive way, and I think that attracts people,” she said.
Even the state Department of Agriculture & Markets recently issued a statement asking consumers to take part in CSAs.
That was something that surprised Kleinpeter.
“We usually don”™t get that kind of support from the higher-ups,” he said.
