Dan's Papers - May 23, 2008 -

Community Supported Agriculture, better known as CSA, is an affordable way to not only support local farms, but also to get your daily intake of fresh veggies.

CSAs work on a subscription basis. Prior to the season, customers buy shares of the farm, then, typically starting at the end of May or beginning of June, each week they receive a box of vegetables, which varies depending on what the farm yields that week. So if the farm grows a lot of squash, you're going to get a lot squash in your box and less of something else. "It's like a vegetable of the week club," said Eve Kaplan-Walbrecht, who co-owns the Garden of Eve in Aquebogue with her husband Chris. Subscribers typically get a varied assortment of vegetables though, often enough for several meals throughout the week for a family of four.

"If you have a lot of one crop source, it's a good way to put it out," said Karen Lee, who co-owns Sang Lee Farms in Peconic with her husband Fred. "Sometimes if you put it out at a market or your stand, it won't go. But we diversify as much as we can. We offer a nice mix."

These groups continue to grow as healthy eating becomes more popular and farms continue to struggle to pay for the three Fs - feed, fertilizer and fuel. "It's a win-win situation," said Lee.

"It helps people have a healthy lifestyle; it helps the farmer," added Kaplan-Walbrecht.

Sang Lee, an organic farm that has been around for 40 years, but only as a retailer for the last 10, has been offering a CSA for the last three years. They had 40 members their first year. This number has shot up to 120 - possibly more since they've added a pick-up in Brooklyn - for the last two seasons, said Lee.

Garden of Eve, also organic, has been offering their CSA program for about six years. They started out offering 50 shares and have grown to 600. "We've been able to cut back on the farmers markets," Kaplan-Walbrecht said, "which is a big plus for us. It gives us more time to run the farm and less time standing on sidewalks in New York City."

The money brought in from CSAs helps to offset the farms' costs prior to the summer season. "Farms that are very small need the help to survive," Lee said. "This is a practical approach. Farms struggle in the spring."

It's a great deal for consumers, as well. Sang Lee costs $620 for a full share of 26 weekly pick-ups, while Garden of Eve costs $495. Do the math and you'll see that it's a lot cheaper than running to the supermarket, or even the farm stand, every week. It also ensures that you get the healthiest and freshest vegetables. "There's a huge demand for it," Kaplan-Walbrecht said. "It's a challenge for people getting fresh food within a reasonable distance from where they live."

The farms also make it easy for you. You can pick up your boxes at the farms themselves and they often offer other pick-up locations in Suffolk, Nassau, Brooklyn or Manhattan. Sang Lee members can also pick up their boxes at the Westhampton or East Hampton farmers markets during those market's operating hours if that's easiest for them.

Of course, there are risks to the CSA method as well, but generally just for the farmer. "If you don't have enough vegetables, then you're scrambling to supply customers with an interesting mix," said Lee, whose farm has never been in this situation, but has had other local farms come to Sang Lee to purchase vegetables for CSAs. "If you have to buy in, then you're spending money, not making it." But the benefits far outweigh the risks.

CSAs also foster a community, between the farm and its subscribers as well as between members. Members are often privy to special farm tours, newsletters featuring farm news and special recipes and discounts at the farm stand. "It really connects you to the community in a way you'd never be connected to them," Lee said.