CSA - Building a Future for Farming in the Northeast

CSA - Building a Future for Farming in the Northeast

Summary

Summary
Through conferences that will bring together a wide range of resource people, this project will provide a unique educational opportunity for Extension staff and other USDA field personnel to learn about Community Supported Agriculture (CSA). Conference sessions will cover CSA concepts, benefits, working principles, skills and resources. Goals are to inform extension and other USDA personnel about the growing CSA phenomenon, its success in helping to sustain farming, and its future potential as a production and marketing system for a larger group of farmers.

Objectives
1. Educate extension staff and other USDA field personnel about CSA concepts, benefits, working principles, skills and resources.
2. Promote establishment of new CSA farms and support the further development of existing CSA farms.
3. Increase public awareness of the benefits and importance of involvement and investment in regional agriculture and CSA in particular.

Abstract
Becoming knowledgeable about CSA and developing partnerships with the growing number of Northeast CSA projects is an important way for extension and other USDA field personnel to stay relevant, maintain excellence and continue to be useful to a wide range of farmers. Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) has proven to be an effective way for farmers throughout the Northeast to maintain profitable, environmentally sound farming systems, while assuring a high quality of life and a high degree of urban and rural community support. CSA farms are growing rapidly in number and are increasingly viable marketing and distribution channels for the products of both CSA and non-CSA farms in the Northeast.

Community Supported Agriculture of North America (CSANA), in collaboration with the Massachusetts Extension System and other organizations will sponsor a Northeast CSA Conference to bring together a wide range of resource people, including farmers, CSA members, representatives from various farmer, consumer and food security organizations, and extension and other USDA personnel. The conference will incorporate numerous workshops, farmer-to-farmer and farmer-to-extension staff training sessions, presentations and analyses to: educate participants about CSA concepts, benefits, working principles, skills and resources; promote new CSA farms and support the further development of existing CSA; and increase community involvement in regional agriculture through CSA.

Approved for funding March 1997.

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