One of last week’s CSA boxes
Last week, a contingent of Full Belly folks, including myself, headed to the annual EcoFarm Conference. A big thanks to Rye, Amon, and the rest of the team who kept things running while several of us were away. This conference focuses on regenerative agriculture, ecological stewardship, food justice, and making a more sustainable and just food system. As has happened since 1981, a wide group of attendees (not just farmers) assembled to hear about an equally wide number of topics, with plenty of time on the side to meet new people and catch up with old friends. Paul facilitated a Real Organic Project Roundtable Discussion, Dru did a wreath workshop, I was a panelist for a session on CSAs, and we had an expo booth where we talked about the farm and sold some of our products.
I appreciated hearing the thoughts and reflections of the three farmers chosen for the “Successful Farmer” keynote, which they joked should be called the “Surviving Farmer” panel. And I’m still mulling over the discussion/debate between Leonard Diggs and Tom Willey, both long-time friends of the farm, about community-based farming versus commodity-based farming. See the photo of the summary between these two systems, though the discussion went much deeper, covering the history, the current situation, and the two speakers’ different images of what community-based farming future requires.
Unlike some of the more technical workshops, the takeaways were a bit less practical and a bit more philosophical. Nevertheless it was a good reminder of the larger systems we operate in, to say nothing of a chance to reflect on what we do (and why) and the need to keep questioning the status quo and pushing for a different, and better, future.
I also enjoyed getting to connect with other CSA farmers, comparing and contrasting experiences, systems, struggles, and tips. Most of us are doing things fairly similarly, but there are differences that left me with more food for thought about what could be feasible for us. In preparation for the panel, I spent some time in the data plus talking with Andrew and Dru to get some background history, which I wanted to share here, for those who want some CSA trivia!
In the late 80s, Dru heard Lincoln Geiger from Temple Wilton Farm in New Hampshire talk at EcoFarm about their CSA and was inspired by the idea. The CSA started in 1991 and the first dropoff site was at the house of a sister of an employee (and still is a site!). She coordinated the weekly deliveries for a group of about 25, mostly neighbors, for the first couple years before that task was taken up by folks on the farm. There was a story about CSAs in the SF Chronicle in 1997 that resulted in a huge increase in demand; over 500 got in touch over a few days and the CSA grew to 250 people, plus a waiting list.
Today, we deliver five days of the week for 48 weeks of the year to about 50 public sites all over the SF Bay Area and larger Sacramento/Davis area, plus three small home delivery routes. Last year, we delivered an average of 1,200 boxes a week and over the course of the year, 2,400 households received at least one CSA box.
Over the years, the box contents have changed. Prior to the CSA, we didn’t have any fruit trees! Those were planted for fruit for CSA boxes. We’ve tried different crops over the years; some have worked, some haven’t (i.e. apples, pears, peas). We’ve adopted new technology, including accepting credit cards (around 2010), setting up a website and later the CSA member portal (in 2016), added an electronic newsletter (around 2014), and switched the reusable plastic “Stop Waste” boxes in 2013. We’ve built the Event Center and Kitchen, and now have a beautiful space for events plus a constant stream of tasty treats to add to your boxes. The goal has always been to turn people on to new crops but not to overwhelm them. Hopefully we mostly hit the mark with that goal. Beyond that, we’ve been focused on community-based farming, where the produce that you eat isn’t anonymous, nor are the farmers. You know where your food is coming from, who grew it, and how it was grown. And if you have questions, you have a real person to ask. And a real person to tell if you particularly enjoyed something. We can’t be a community-based farm without a community, so thanks for playing your part!
Elaine Swiedler, CSA Manager
