Community-supported agriculture (CSA) has risen in popularity in recent times, with the COVID-19 pandemic still prevalent across the globe. For those unfamiliar with a CSA, it provides consumers a way to purchase local produce that is in season straight from a local farmer. It has a sort of risk-vs-reward niche to it because consumers receive whatever was harvested at the time. There are a few variations on community-supported agriculture, and it’s possible there are multiple options near you from which to choose. These are some options you might see for a CSA.
Traditional CSA
Traditional CSA is a classic variation, and it is one of the simplest models that a CSA has. People who are members of a traditional CSA pay subscription fees, which help to fund whatever farm they are supporting. Then, all contributors to the fund will take an equal share of the farm’s harvest each week.
There is some variance in the crops that members receive because some harvests are better than others. However, what’s great is that local farms can recover from a bad year more easily when members contribute to a community-supported agriculture. CSAs help preserve smaller farms and prevent farmers from going bankrupt, meaning they can supply more produce to consumers in the future.
Market-Style CSAs
A market-style CSA is a little different from the traditional variant. With this style, there is a distribution site where large bins will be put out to display the produce that was harvested. Then, rather than have all members receive an equal portion of the harvest, they can each pick out their own box.
This style grants consumers more choices. In addition, farmers don’t spend as much money or time because they aren’t preparing all of the boxes for their members.
Flexible-Week CSA
Flexible-week CSAs are the perfect solution for consumers who don’t consume the contents of whatever boxes they purchase or for those who return from vacation only to find that the box they received has rotting produce now.
Using flexible-week CSAs, members will sign themselves up for however many weeks during the season that they would like to receive a delivery. Once the farmers know how many weeks each member would like deliveries, each member will also state which weeks that they would like to receive their share.
Baywater Farms Has The Right Produce For You
Baywater Farms is a family-owned and operated farm servicing Baltimore, Washington D.C., Maryland, Delaware beaches, and the Eastern Shore. We are capable of meeting the demands of your produce distributor, restaurant produce supplier, CSA produce supplier, or wholesale produce supplier while maintaining the integrity and character of a small farm. When you work with Baywater Farms, you work with an experienced, ethical, and local farm dedicated to providing the highest-quality heirloom produce.