Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) is a lot like a food co-op except that you’re purchasing your “share” directly from the farmer. One of the reasons I like my CSA is that the farmer is local, the produce is picked that day, and the produce in my share is what’s in season. Many CSAs are organic or if not certified organic the produce is grown to organic standards, but always check with your farmer before purchasing. Organic food is higher in nutrients than non-organic, is not genetically modified, and of course doesn’t have those nasty pesticides.
Now is the time that members sign up for the CSA so the farmer knows how much to plant. Some of them have special prices for members who puchase their shares early and I know one CSA that is already sold out for their spring share and are now selling shares for their summer produce.
Here are some links to help you locate a CSA in your area. You can also find some additional information on local CSAs on the CSA page of my site under the Health & Wellness tab.
Local Harvest is a site that helps you locate CSAs, farmer’s markets, grass-fed meat, and many other locally produced items regardless of where you live in the country.
CSA Utah helps you locate CSAs in Utah and explains more about what a CSA is.
Pick Your Own is a site that lists farms and orchards where you can “pick your own” produce, but it also offers listings for other whole foods and farmers markets. One of the things I like about this site is that they list which sites use pesticides and which don’t. While the Utah page doesn’t list any CSAs, the other pages might.
