What Grows in the Ninth Stays in the Ninth

Avocados don't grow in Aberdeen, nor mangoes in Minneapolis, but what does grow in the Ninth Federal Reserve District is increasingly sought by consumers, and growers are responding with new, expanded methods for delivering locally grown produce and other foods to customers. One fast-growing piece of the local-food movement is community supported agriculture (CSA), where local farmers grow, harvest and often deliver fresh produce and other foods to members who buy annual "shares" in the operation's output.

The local-food trend has a lot of green shoots. Probably the most visible is the rising number of farmers markets throughout the district. But other outlets have developed to expand the frequency of local food reaching your dinner plate because consumers are demanding it. Packaged Facts, a market research firm, reported that consumer demand for locally grown products hit nearly $5 billion in 2007 "and could rise to as much as $7 billion a year by 2012."

The local-food trend doesn't get any more grass-roots-literally and figuratively-than in the hundreds of CSAs popping up across the District.

Here's the way it works. The farmer sells "shares" in farm products, guaranteeing weekly delivery of a variety of items over the growing season; that usually means from April through October. Generally, farmers offer a mix of products, though if one crop fails and another is overly abundant, shareholder members could end up with lots of squash and meager offerings of other produce for the week's delivery. But that's the idea; the community bears the natural risks associated with farming.

A share will typically run from $300 to $700, with some farms selling half shares. A share gives the member about a bushel basket of produce each week. The cost of shares depends on the farmer's operational costs and other variables like the length of growing season, selection of crops grown and what the soil can bear.

Erin Barnett, director of Local Harvest, a national CSA support network, said that CSAs provide a measure of economic security for farmers, who, by marketing their crops to subscribers during the off-season, develop a known customer base for those crops before they're planted. Barnett said CSAs are a big part of making small-scale farming viable in the 21st century.

In a 2002 survey of Upper Midwest CSA operators, the Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture at Iowa State University found that the typical CSA farmer in the region (including Michigan, Minnesota, North Dakota and Wisconsin) was 45 years old, had 14 years of farming experience and was likely to be a college graduate. Half the respondents had an off-farm job, but also farmed at least 20 percent of the time. The 2007 Census of Agriculture also shows growth in small farm operations-a reversal of a decades-long trend-many of them run by part-time farmers with other jobs.

Jonda Crosby, executive director of the Alternative Energy Resources Organization (AERO) in Helena, Mont., said there's been "a huge influx ofunder-35 farmers flooding to the land." Anecdotal evidence suggests that many younger farmers are often choosing a local-food approach, including CSAs.

But the number and growth trajectory of CSAs are difficult to pin down. For starters, CSA numbers are fluid, with farmers going to the CSA model if they have enough subscribers or choosing to market their products another way if the subscription process doesn't work for them. According to a report by the Leopold Center, 30 percent to 40 percent member attrition each year is not unusual, as many members decide that the volume and variety of produce is more than they need. That means farmers might be in and out of a CSA from year to year.

While CSAs have grown mostly around metro areas, Terry Vanderpol, who directs community-based food systems in Montevideo, Minn., for the Land Stewardship Project, said they are moving increasingly to rural areas. She noted two near Montevideo that sell local shares. One couple built a solar greenhouse and offers winter crops of greens and broccoli.

And it's not just individuals operating CSA farms. Mayer from the Van En Center said the center often receives calls from municipalities interested in leasing vacant city properties to CSA operators; others want to use land trusts and other similar land sitting idle.

The growing CSA movement is likely both a driver and a benefactor of a broader push for locally grown foods. In addition to homes, supermarkets and restaurants clamoring for local-food products, hospitals, schools and company cafeterias throughout the district are expressing greater interest in using locally grown items. And to do so, new business and distribution models-even legislation-are often needed to allow institutions to change their purchasing methods so that contract food vendors and local-food producers can operate side by side.

So while there are some bumps the road, the movement continues to expand and farmers in the district can benefit. "We're still trying to see the bad news in this. We've got fresher [food] and a higher flavor profile," Missoula's Christensen said.

Source: Federal Gazette, Joe Mahon, 9/17/09