Just a quickie today to get a little terminology straight :) You hear me mention the term CSA program or CSA farm a lot in my blog posts and on the podcast.
So what is a CSA program??
CSA stands for Community Supported Agriculture. CSA Programs involve a farm selling a "share" of produce, meat, eggs, or other food products to a family for the season. This means that if you buy a CSA Share at a farm, they will now provide you with a share of the harvest throughout the season.
The standard produce model involves someone buying a share up front - typically either paying 50% down or paying in full - then offering pick ups every week or every other week throughout the season. These pick ups may occur at the farm, a farmers' market, a grocery store, or at another CSA members' home.
Most farms offer summer shares which range from minimally June - September, although some will cover about 6 months from roughly April - October. There are fewer farms in Oregon that offer winter shares, but there absolutely are some.
So if you wanted to, you could feasibly participate in CSA programs that cover almost every week of the year - I have for several years and love it! I joke with my husband during the few weeks between CSA shares that I hardly know how to shop for produce anymore. ;)
- Portland CSA Coalition: A comprehensive list of farms offering CSA programs in the Portland area.
- Local Harvest: A great resource for finding CSA programs and other local farms throughout the US
- Podcast interviews I've done with Portland area CSA Farms (I'll do my best to remember to update this moving forward!)
- Other Portland area farms I recommend