what is a csa

 

Community Supporting Agriculture (CSA) is a farming model that directly involves the consumer with the farmer. In our case, we choose to use the word "supporting," rather than "supported," to show that the exchange goes both ways. The community and the farm really do support each other. This definition of CSA was originally adopted by Dennis and Bailey Stenson of Happy Heart Farm in Fort Collins, creators of the first CSA in Colorado. 

The CSA concept originated in Japan, where a group of women approached local farmers about growing food for their immediate communities in order to preserve farm land from development. These relationships came to be known as "Tei Kei’s" or "food with the farmer’s face on it."

The CSA model quickly spread throughout Europe and was adopted by the famous father of biodynamic agriculture, Rudolf Steiner. Followers of Steiner then moved to the U.S., bringing the CSA concept with them. The first two American CSAs were started in New Hampshire and Massachusetts in the early 1980s. There are now more than 2,000 CSAs spread across the country.