Save Money With a CSA

Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) is a way for consumers to buy local food directly from a farmer. When you join a CSA you receive a box of seasonal produce each week while the farming season lasts. You get to eat very fresh food while it is in season, possibly including vegetables you have not yet tried. Some farmers also offer eggs, cheese, fruit, herbs, preserves, meat, and about anything else that is grown or made on a farm.

If joining a CSA sounds like something you would like to try here are a few sites to learn more about it.

Local Harvest has “the most comprehensive directory of CSA farms, with over 2,500 listed in our grassroots database. In 2008, 557 CSAs signed up with Local Harvest, and in the first two months of 2009, an additional 300 CSAs joined the site.”

Use the Rodale Institutes Farm Locator to find farms that sell directly to consumers.

Wilson College also offers a searchable database of CSA farms.

The Eat Well Guide is an “online database for finding fresh, locally grown and sustainably produced food in the United States and Canada.”

You can also perform an online search using your location and “CSA farms” as search options.

Related Reading:

Six Great Gardening Websites

Food Banks, Pantries and Soup Kitchens: How to Find Food in Times of Need

Roadside Stands vs. Farmers Markets