In many neighborhoods around Madison there is a weekly routine from spring through fall. A truck pulls up to a house and unloads boxes onto the driveway or porch or into the garage. For several hours thereafter, cars and bikes and pedestrians arrive and the boxes are carted off to be opened with delight in people’s kitchens. What do those boxes contain? Depending on the season, it could be tomatoes, salad mix, strawberries, sweet corn, hot peppers, snap peas, cucumbers, watermelons, pumpkins, green beans, yellow beans, onions, potatoes, broccoli, eggplants, or any of the 30-50 varieties of produce that are grown by local farmers. All fresh and all organically grown! These people are participants in the rapidly growing movement of Community Supported Agriculture or CSA.
CSA members have a direct connection with their food, the land on which it’s grown, and the farmers who grow it. They purchase shares from the farmer and, throughout the growing season (and sometimes beyond), they receive weekly deliveries of seasonal produce at one of several convenient pick-up sites. They may also visit the farm for potlucks, harvest festivals and pick-your-own events. Children, especially, enjoy seeing where their food is grown.
The produce is grown without synthetic pesticides and fertilizers, so it’s good for you and good for the land. CSA farmers choose varieties for their flavor, not for the ability to be shipped hundreds of miles and sit on a store shelf, so it’s delicious. It’s delivered to pick-up points throughout Dane and nearby counties, so it’s convenient. It’s about as fresh as it gets and it’s nutritious.
For more information about CSAs, call Doug Wubben at 226-0300 or email: mailto:info@macsac.org. Visit our website at http://www.macsac.org/. Additional information, including a state-by-state listing of CSA farms in the United States can be found at http://www.csacenter.org/.
-Doug Wubben
Madison Area Community Supported Agriculture Coalition