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Participating in a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) program is one of the greenest—if not the greenest period—ways you can eat in a more environmentally conscious manner. The premise is simple—you sign up to a CSA venture that supports a local farm, and once a week you pick up fresh, local produce that's tasty and GMO-free.
Everyone wins—you get your fresh food, you cut back on food miles, and you support a family farm and buck big agribusiness.
And the movement is growing—according to a study by UMASS, there are now over 1,000 farms in the US and Canada participating in the CSA program. While that may not sound like a lot, it represents an important growth from the concept's inception in the US back in 1985, when there were precisely zero CSAs. And it arrived in the US under pretty interesting circumstances.
According to UMASS Vegetable:
CSA is a unique model of local agriculture that has developed from many different influences. More than 30 years ago in Japan, a group of women concerned about the increase in food imports and the corresponding decrease in the farming population initiated a direct growing and purchasing relationship between their group and local farms. This arrangement, called "teikei" in Japanese, translates to "putting the farmers' face on food." A similar community farming approach has been successful in Europe. A variation of this concept traveled from Europe to the U.S. via the biodynamic community. This method was adapted locally and given the name "Community Supported Agriculture" at Indian Line Farm, Massachusetts, in 1985.
So help keep the trend going—be wise, and join a CSA.
More on CSAs
CSA/Organic Guide
Join a CSA Co-op
How Green Are Your Eating Habits?
How to Go Green: Eating
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