What is Community Supported Agriculture (CSA)?
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Inland Empire CSA
Community Supported Agriculture
CSA is a partnership of mutual commitment between a farm or farms and a community of supporters which provides
a direct link between the production and consumption of food. You help to cover a farm's yearly operating budget
by pledging (purchasing) a portion of the season's harvest. CSA members make a commitment to support the
farms throughout the season, and assume the costs, risks and bounty of growing food along with the farmer or
grower. Your pledge helps to pay for seeds, fertilizer, water, equipment, maintenance, labor, etc. In return, the
farms provide, to the best of its ability, a healthy supply of seasonal fresh fruit and vegetables throughout the
growing season. Becoming a member creates a responsible relationship between people and the food they eat, the
land on which it is grown and those who grow it.
This mutually supportive relationship between local farmers, growers and community members helps create an
economically stable farm operation in which members are assured the highest quality organic produce. In return,
farmers and growers are guaranteed a reliable market for a diverse selection of crops.
How Does The Inland Empire CSA Work?
Pledges - We have two pledge plans available for our CSA members. The Full Pledge, which typically provides a
weeks supply of produce for a large family or 3-4 adults. With a Full Pledge, you would receive 10-15 items shown
on the home page "What's in Season" each week with the content varying by season. For smaller families, we also
offer a Half Pledge, which provides a weeks supply of produce for 1-2 adults. With a Half Pledge, you would
receive fewer items and/or a smaller amount of an item.
Payment - We request that all members pay in advance for their Full or Half Pledge. We ask this because we
need to have an idea of how many families to plant for, keep our bookkeeping duties down to a minimum and be
planting and harvesting your crops in a timely manner. We also accept credit cards for payment. Join us now
Drop off Locations - Locations and times where you can pick up your box. As our CSA grows we will be adding
additional locations to be more convenient for our members. You can click here for
Why Is Community Supported Agriculture Important?
• CSA encourages direct communication and cooperation among farmers and consumers.
• CSA provides farmers and growers with a fair return on their labor.
• CSA keeps food dollars in the local community and contributes to the development and maintenance of
regional food systems.
• With a "guaranteed market" for their produce, farmers can invest their time in doing the best job they can
producing food rather than marketing their products.
• CSA supports the biodiversity of a given farm and the diversity of agriculture.
• CSA creates a sense of social responsibility and stewardship of local land.
• CSA puts "the farmer's face on the food" and increases the understanding of how, where and by whom the
food is grown.
Food is a basic human need. Yet for most of us in the U.S., it is merely an inexpensive commodity that we take for
granted. Questions such as how, where, or by whom it is grown are not generally the topic of conversation around
the dinner table. Considering the current situation in agriculture, perhaps they should be. Food in the U.S. travels
an average of 1,500 miles from farm to supermarket. Almost every state in the U.S. buys 85% of its food from some
place else.
Increased local food production would add a significant number of additional food dollars to the economy of many
other states. Yet the nation's best farm land is being lost to commercial and residential development at an
accelerating rate. At the same time, the retirement of older farmers, increasing land and production costs, low food
prices, competing land uses, the lack of incentive for young people to enter farming, and the fundamental
restructuring of the national and global economy all combine to make farming and local food production in the U.S.
an increasingly difficult task. Community Supported Agriculture represents a viable alternative to the prevailing
situation and the long-distance relationship most of us have with the food we eat.
CSA reflects an innovative and resourceful strategy to connect local farmers with local consumers; develop a
regional food supply and strong local economy; maintain a sense of community; encourage land stewardship; and
honor the knowledge and experience of growers and producers working with small to medium farms. 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. There are now over 1000 CSA farms across the US and
Canada.
a direct link between the production and consumption of food. You help to cover a farm's yearly operating budget
by pledging (purchasing) a portion of the season's harvest. CSA members make a commitment to support the
farms throughout the season, and assume the costs, risks and bounty of growing food along with the farmer or
grower. Your pledge helps to pay for seeds, fertilizer, water, equipment, maintenance, labor, etc. In return, the
farms provide, to the best of its ability, a healthy supply of seasonal fresh fruit and vegetables throughout the
growing season. Becoming a member creates a responsible relationship between people and the food they eat, the
land on which it is grown and those who grow it.
This mutually supportive relationship between local farmers, growers and community members helps create an
economically stable farm operation in which members are assured the highest quality organic produce. In return,
farmers and growers are guaranteed a reliable market for a diverse selection of crops.
How Does The Inland Empire CSA Work?
Pledges - We have two pledge plans available for our CSA members. The Full Pledge, which typically provides a
weeks supply of produce for a large family or 3-4 adults. With a Full Pledge, you would receive 10-15 items shown
on the home page "What's in Season" each week with the content varying by season. For smaller families, we also
offer a Half Pledge, which provides a weeks supply of produce for 1-2 adults. With a Half Pledge, you would
receive fewer items and/or a smaller amount of an item.
Payment - We request that all members pay in advance for their Full or Half Pledge. We ask this because we
need to have an idea of how many families to plant for, keep our bookkeeping duties down to a minimum and be
planting and harvesting your crops in a timely manner. We also accept credit cards for payment. Join us now
Drop off Locations - Locations and times where you can pick up your box. As our CSA grows we will be adding
additional locations to be more convenient for our members. You can click here for
Why Is Community Supported Agriculture Important?
• CSA encourages direct communication and cooperation among farmers and consumers.
• CSA provides farmers and growers with a fair return on their labor.
• CSA keeps food dollars in the local community and contributes to the development and maintenance of
regional food systems.
• With a "guaranteed market" for their produce, farmers can invest their time in doing the best job they can
producing food rather than marketing their products.
• CSA supports the biodiversity of a given farm and the diversity of agriculture.
• CSA creates a sense of social responsibility and stewardship of local land.
• CSA puts "the farmer's face on the food" and increases the understanding of how, where and by whom the
food is grown.
Food is a basic human need. Yet for most of us in the U.S., it is merely an inexpensive commodity that we take for
granted. Questions such as how, where, or by whom it is grown are not generally the topic of conversation around
the dinner table. Considering the current situation in agriculture, perhaps they should be. Food in the U.S. travels
an average of 1,500 miles from farm to supermarket. Almost every state in the U.S. buys 85% of its food from some
place else.
Increased local food production would add a significant number of additional food dollars to the economy of many
other states. Yet the nation's best farm land is being lost to commercial and residential development at an
accelerating rate. At the same time, the retirement of older farmers, increasing land and production costs, low food
prices, competing land uses, the lack of incentive for young people to enter farming, and the fundamental
restructuring of the national and global economy all combine to make farming and local food production in the U.S.
an increasingly difficult task. Community Supported Agriculture represents a viable alternative to the prevailing
situation and the long-distance relationship most of us have with the food we eat.
CSA reflects an innovative and resourceful strategy to connect local farmers with local consumers; develop a
regional food supply and strong local economy; maintain a sense of community; encourage land stewardship; and
honor the knowledge and experience of growers and producers working with small to medium farms. 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. There are now over 1000 CSA farms across the US and
Canada.
LOCALLY GROWN ORGANIC FRUIT AND VEGETABLES