Community Supported Agriculture Offers Many Local Options — Learn More!

Camas, WA – Camas-Washougal area residents have a growing local CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) community right in their backyard! With new ways to engage and purchase whole foods consumers may have questions regarding new and expanding choices. February 23 is National CSA Day and is a perfect time to feature all the local farms in the area. Additionally on March 10th, 10am-3pm at The Redd 831 SE Salmon St. Portland, Or. the Portland Area Community Supported Agriculture Coalition (PACSAC) is hosting a CSA Share Fare, an opportunity for consumers to meet and talk with local Farmers! 

CSA Memberships are a subscription to a season’s worth of sustainable, locally grown produce that is distributed to members throughout the harvesting season. It is a form of investment that allows small farmers to continue growing on a small scale that may not be sustainable without the CSA model. CSA members enjoy the quality of fresh fruits and vegetables for their family, while supporting their local farmer through their figurative and literal ‘seed’ money investments. Getting food from a CSA is different from going to a farmers market or using a grocery delivery service. As a CSA member, you make a seasonal commitment to a small farmer in your area, and the produce is either delivered to your door or you pick it up at a nearby distribution location. 

CSA members take pleasure in knowing where and how their food is grown, and typically have an open line of communication with their farmer. Building a relationship with your local farmer also changes your relationship with your food; you have a closer more informed view of how your food starts from simple seeds, and end up in your families’ bellies. Other simple, yet incredibly impactful benefits are, learning how to cook seasonally (and therefore more sustainably), introducing new healthful foods into your diet, and reducing the amount of fossil fuels used to transport your produce from farm to plate.

According to Small Farm Central’s CSA Farming Annual Report, the most popular time to join a CSA each year is at the end of February. To promote this important time for farmers, CSA Day was coined, and each year it falls on the last Friday in February. It’s an entire day dedicated to the celebration of community-supported agriculture, and CSA farmers enjoy an influx of sign-ups from members, which gives them revenue when they need it most for the growing season.

Good Rain Farm (formally 50Fifty Farm) is now accepting applications for their 2019 season. To find out more about the farm—and fill out an application—visit www.goodrainfarm.wordpress.com, follow them on Facebook and Instagram @Goodrainfarm, or contact them at [email protected]

You can find a listing of CSA’s offered in Clark County here: www.clarkcountygrown.org/csa which is hosted by SW Wa Slow Foods chapter. The Chapter also host monthly socials, 1st Wednesday 5-9pm at Brother’s Cascadia Brewing, where farmers often talk about their production practices, market barriers and what drives their passion to farm and feed their community.