CSA Final Post

Kayla Frimer & Tara Keeny

ILS 252

Final Project

            We decided to research and raise awareness about a program in Madison called Community Supported Agriculture.  It is described in detail in our Introductory Project Statements but to reiterate the main point, CSA is a program that allows locals to become shareholders of a farm.  Shareholders pay a flat fee (usually around $550) for a 20-week piece of that season’s harvest.  Participants receive completely organic produce, poultry, meats, dairy products, etc.

            After lots of research and a visit to a local farm called “Goodness Organics” in McFarland, WI, we learned that CSA contributes to sustainability in multiple ways.  There are financial benefits both on the personal level and on a larger scale.  Joining CSA saves money for the participants who do not need to shop for produce/dairy products etc. at places like Fresh Market on University Avenue.  Products in large-scale markets like these are more expensive because the revenue from that product needs to go to the original producer, cover transportation costs, and contribute to the profit of the market itself.   We calculated that someone who participates in CSA can save up to $22.50 a week, and $450 in total by not shopping at supermarkets.  There are financial benefits at the community level because money is transferred directly between the locals and the farmers: no funds are lost, and the transaction is mutually beneficial.  It is nice to know exactly where your money is going, and that it is staying directly within your community.

            There are obviously health benefits to eating organic produce as well.  CSA boasts products that are almost entirely organic.  The farms have to undergo an extensive process in order to receive an organic certification, but they do it because the benefits are enormous.  In some large-scale supermarkets, pesticides have been found in almost 50% of their produce. Apples and celery are two kinds of produce that tend to have high levels of pesticides.  Why is it important to avoid pesticides? “Pesticides are known to be toxic to the nervous system, cause cancer, disrupt hormones and cause brain damage in children. Pregnant women are advised to avoid foods containing pesticides” (USA TODAY).  The produce that CSA participants receive is completely pesticide-free.  Additionally, supermarket produce often spends days in the back of a truck, and days sitting on a shelf waiting to be bought.  CSA produce is exponentially fresher.  Fresh produce from CSA tends to be packed with phytonutrients, which are good for us because of their protective health benefits (Pete Anderson, Nutritional Sciences).  Lastly, CSA is the healthier option because eating seasonally allows for more dietary variety and subsequently a wider variety of vitamins and nutrients in the diet.

            Sustainability really came into play when we realized the relatively minimal effect that CSA has on the environment.  The number one thing we can do as consumers to cut energy costs and reduce CO2 emissions is to eat locally! (Pete Anderson) Acquiring produce from large-scale supermarkets is definitely not green in comparison.  Many foods have high water content and therefore require highly refrigerated trucks to transport them across the country.  These gas-guzzling trucks burn gallon after gallon of gasoline moving from city to city.  They also release extremely harmful carbon emissions and excessive amounts of CO2 into the air.  Essentially, joining CSA is the number one thing locals can do to reduce their carbon footprint, making it an extremely sustainable and worthwhile program.

            Lastly, the social benefits of CSA definitely make it worthwhile. Joining CSA allows residents to build strong community ties with farmers and other families from their area.  CSA members are given opportunities to visit the farm around holidays for fun-filled events, are presented with job, internship and donation opportunities, technical workshops, mentorship programs, etc.  These social benefits are just another reason why joining CSA is the healthiest, most cost-efficient, and sustainable way to acquire food.

Applied Project- Meals Using Organic Produce

                    For this part of our project, we decided to cook meals, or snacks using only organic produce. Each night for four days, we would invite friends over who live in apartments and would benefit through a CSA share. During the meal, we’d present to them our PowerPoint on Community Supported Agriculture and survey them with questions about their interest in the program. Early on, we discovered how difficult it is to cook using solely organic produce, so we became more flexible with our initial rules. However, all of the vegetables and fruits we used for our meals were completely organic as confirmed by the employees at Fresh Market. We chose these items to reflect the organic produce that students would receive through their shares with CSA. Unfortunately, we could not attain these items through partnership farmers of CSA because of our lack of transportation, the time constraint, and the current growing season. However, we did receive fresh cranberries from the farm we visited in McFarland, Wisconsin, and used them to create some delicious cranberry bread. Below we’ve documented the items we made, followed by the quotes we found most interesting from our friends on their opinion regarding the Community Supported Agriculture program. It is our hopes that these meals, as well as our facilitation of CSA discussion, will encourage our friends to not only participate in CSA next semester, but to also encourage their friends to participate, ultimately spreading the word around campus. Tara and I are thrilled that our roommates for next year have already agreed to split a CSA share in the upcoming months.

Meal

Interviews:

Question: Did you think the food tasted differently knowing that we used mostly organic ingredients?

Answer from Cory Kanner, Junior Engineering Major: “I’m not sure if it was because it was organic or because of the way it was prepared, but the food tasted really fresh and delicious!”

Question: After detailing the CSA program, would you at all be interested in obtaining a share this spring or next year?

Answer from Ellie Stern, Sophomore Human Development Major: “After hearing your presentation, I’d really be interested in obtaining a share. I’m excited to go home and tell my roommates, as well as call my parents. With the health benefits and the amount of money we’d be saving it just seems like the most logical thing to do.”

Answer from Stephanie Goodman, Junior Communication Arts Major: “I’d definitely be interested in obtaining a share with my roommates, however, I just hope that the majority of the farms drop off the produce, since none of my roommates have access

Sustainability Introductory Statement

The concept of attaining a sustainable global environment for our current generation, as well as for future generations must begin with change on the local level. For this reason, Tara Keeny and I are going to focus on supporting local agriculture in order to reinforce sustainability through the local, non-for-profit, coalition of individual farms known as Community Supported Agriculture (CSA). Through this program, farmers develop their own unique membership system, grow mass amounts of produce, and deliver their own shares and interact directly with their members. Our goal is to encourage student participation in this amazing program in order to improve the health and nutrition of students, save them money, and of course to improve sustainability through the support and attainment of local agriculture.

According to the Community Supported Agriculture website, the history of this program began abroad in the 1960s, in countries including Japan, Switzerland, and Germany as a response to “concerns about food safety and the urbanization of agricultural land. So, groups of consumers and farmers in Europe formed cooperative partnerships to support farms and farming by paying the full costs of ecologically sound, socially equitable agriculture” (csacoalition.org). It wasn’t until 1986 that CSA formed in the United States, and has since spread to obtain over 12,500 community supported farms serving fresh food and providing fresh produce around the country. In 1996, the Midwest participation in CSA grew to support an estimated 3,000 houses. Today, approximately 22,000 Wisconsin residents obtain fresh produce from their CSA farm every week during the growing season (csacoalition.org). Essentially, members purchase a “share” at the beginning of the season, allowing the farmers to plan production for a guaranteed market and providing capital upfront to purchase inputs. “Thus, shareholders pay the real costs of production and in this way contribute to the support of local, small scale growers. Risks are shared: if there is a poor harvest everyone gets less not just the farmers” (Bagdonis, 2011). It is our goal to inform and educate students on the significance of this historic coalition and influence them to become involved in order to reinforce sustainability.

One reason we want to spread awareness about Community Supported Agriculture is to improve the health and nutrition of students. Many chain food markets and super markets around the country obtain their produce from large farms that use pesticides. The purpose of pesticides is to allow farmers to produce a greater yield of crops by removing undesirable pests and plants. However, “Pesticides are known to be toxic to the nervous system, cause cancer, disrupt hormones and cause brain damage in children. Pregnant women are advised to avoid foods containing pesticides” (Janice 2011). The highest amount of pesticides are found in some of the most common fruits and vegetables, including strawberries, apples, celeries, grapes, and peaches. According to a study done by the International Weekly Journal of Science, the amount of pesticide production, as well as pesticide imports has increased exponentially from the 20^th to the 21^st centuries.

It is our hope that once students become involved with CSA, they will create a relationship with a specific farm, and be able to learn exactly where the food their ingesting is being grown.

Pesticides are not the only reason why it is less healthy to buy from afar instead of locally. According to the article “Buying Locally Benefits Communities,” Metta Winter argues that the quality of local produce is also much better. “When one comes across a tattered, slightly rubbery head of broccoli that’s been trucked from the West Coast and set out on display in the produce section of a large grocery store, it doesn’t appear nearly as inviting as the crispy deep green one, freshly picked that morning, and purchased at noon at a farm market. The taste is frequently better and the nutrient quality may be higher–and people know it” (Winter 1996). The CSA gives members the opportunity to select exactly where their food is coming from, and allows members to ensure that it is as healthy and nutritious as possible.

Buying local produce will also save students more money. According to a study done among 62 CSA participants in 1995 and 1996, most CSA members were more than satisfied with the price of their share for the produce they were receiving. The study also found that “the retail prices of comparable produce distributed by three farms found that the value of CSA shares exceeded that of both organic and conventional produce, as priced in a national supermarket chain (Lee 2009). CSA also saves its members money through the Health Insurance Rebate it provides to many participants. Residents who have GHC, Dean Health, Physicians Plus, or Unity Health insurance can receive a rebate for their participation with the CSA Program (csacoalition.org). This rebate ensures that members under these specific health insurance plans are receiving the most affordable planned share as possible. The website also describes how more insurance plans are being added to the CSA program as it continues to grow and prosper.

According to the article “Agricultural sustainability and Intensive Production Practices,” “we define sustainable agriculture as practices that meet current and future societal needs for food and fibre, for ecosystem services, and for healthy lives, and that …the development of sustainable agriculture must accompany advances in the sustainability of energy use, manufacturing, transportation and other economic sectors that also have significant environmental impacts” (Cassman 2002). The CSA program ensures that participants are maintaining a sustainable agricultural environment because of many factors mentioned above. For example, the means in which these farms produce their goods are done in a way that does not use large manufacturing that could hurt the environment. The farmers must complete a certificate that ensures the production of their agriculture is done organically. This certificate must be completed annually and is thoroughly inspected by the CSA in order to ensure farmers are following the proper policy (csacoalition.org). The CSA program is also reinforcing sustainability through their means of transporting their goods. The farmers will either set off a drop off spot close to the members’ home, or the members will actually pick up the produce from the farm. This eliminates the use of trucks that emit non-eco-friendly gases into the environment. Another important factor that reinforces sustainability through this program is the relationship that develops through farmers and shareholders. “Having the community come together in support of one another is essential to our getting through these difficult economic times… shopping locally not only helps to achieve this objective, it also helps to reduce carbon emissions. In the end, we become an economically stronger and healthier community” (Lee 2009).

Through the awareness and encouragement of the CSA program to UW students, we can reinforce sustainability in our community. Buying local produce through these farms will create a relationship between farmers and members that will ensure shareholders know exactly where their vegetables, fruits, and other food is coming from. This will ensure members that they are gaining the most healthy and nutritious produce possible, at the most affordable price. This program offers a great opportunity, which Tara and I hope not only to participate in ourselves, but to also encourage many UW students to get involved as well.

Works Cited

Bagdonis, Jessica, C. Hinrichs, and Kai Schafft. “The Emergence And Framing Of Farm-To-School Initiatives: Civic Engagement, Health And Local Agriculture.” Agriculture & Human Values 26.1/2 (2009): 107-119. Communication & Mass Media Complete. Web. 21 Nov. 2011.

Cassman, Kenneth G., Matson, Pamela A., Naylor, Rosamond, Polasky, Stephen, Tilman,

David. “Agricultural Sustainability and Intensive Production Practices.” International Journal of Science. Nature 418, 671-677. 8 August 2002.

CSACoalition.org

Janice, Lloyd, and TODAY USA. “Apples are the No. 1 produce for pesticide contamination.” USA Today n.d.: Academic Search Premier. Web. 21 Nov. 2011.)

Lee, Debbie. “‘Buy Local’ Program Promotes Sustainability and Economic Stability.” Public Management, 91.7 (2009): 8.

Winter, Metta. “Buying Locally Benefits Communities.” Human Ecology, 24.4 (1996): 3.