CSA:
Community Supported Agriculture By : Victor Yakimov
What is it?
CSA or community Supported agriculture is a trend that becoming more and more popular agriculture across the US. It allows for city residents to basically purchase high quality fresh gown produce from nearby farmers. Basically what happens is you buy a share from a local farmer (Usually 400$-600$) upfront. During the months of June through October, either every week or two weeks, farmers drop off goods in your local neighborhood. Usually one share consists of 7 to 10 different vegetables and is enough for 2-3 people. For a few extra dollars you can get eggs, fruit, meat or even flowers if you'd like.
History
The program started in the 1980's and was influenced by a man by the name of Rudolf Steiner. Jan Vander Tuin and Trauger Groh both were European farmers that brought the idea to the U.S. which led to the simultaneous creation of two separate Community-supported agricultures. It later evolved to someone actually making it an official program called CSA North America in 1992. Today there are more than 12,500 CSA farms in the U.S. alone plus another 500 in other countries.