HARRISBURG, Pa. — With temperatures slowly increasing, we all start to think about the wonderful fresh produce that comes along with warmer, longer days as more and more people are looking for local sources to purchase the season’s bounty.
One of the ever increasingly popular ways to do so is through Community Supported Agriculture or
CSA
Now you can search for a CSA near you using an online map recently developed by Penn State Extension.
Map
Visitors can access the map at extension.psu.edu/Lehigh under “Spotlight” or go to http://tinyurl.com/csamap15.
CSA’s are designed to encourage relationships between the consumers and growers and for the consumer to become more knowledgeable about how their food is grown.
Shares
Here’s how it works: CSA members, or shareholders, purchase “shares” of the harvest for the season.
Shares are sold in the winter and early spring before the growing season so the farmer has the capital he or she needs to purchase seed and supplies to get their season up and running and reimburse their labor without waiting until the harvest to generate revenue. CSAs can range in size, from smaller operations with 10 or 20 members to much larger operations with a few hundred members.
Consumers benefit by receiving a weekly supply of fresh produce throughout the growing season from farmers’ right in your own community.
Most CSAs provide a variety of eight to twelve vegetables, herbs and fruits in their share each week in the summer, with an average of five to seven pounds of vegetables. You and your family can enjoy seasonal food that is harvested that day and your membership to the farm helps ensure the future of that farm to continue to supply food for your community.
Popularity
Given their growing popularity, Penn State Extension created the searchable CSA map of Pennsylvania to help residents locate a nearby CSA. The map is still evolving and will continue to be updated as more farms apply; to date, there are 200 CSA farms across the state of Pennsylvania.
If you have questions please contact Brian Moyer at bfm3@psu.edu or 610-391-9840.
