Farm to table

Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) is a mutually supportive relationship between a local farm and the nearby residents. Ewell Culbertson, owner of Pachamama Organic Farm in Longmont, discusses the role a CSA can play in the lives of Boulder County residents. To find out more about Pachamama Organic Farm and its CSA program, you can go to www.pachamamafarm.com.

Q: For those of us who aren’t in the know, what exactly is a CSA?

A: It is where a person chooses to make a financial commitment to a local farm for one season, and in return for that they have a much more intimate relationship and experience with the farm than they would get just buying produce from the farmers’ market, for instance.

They receive a box of fresh produce every week. They get news and information about what’s going on at the farm throughout the season. They attend community events at the farm such as festivals. They have a farm where they can take their children in order to see the animals and to learn how vegetables and produce is grown. And they get the good feeling in their hearts knowing that they have supported something in their community that they believe in.

Q: Generally, is there a variety of produce each week?

A: They get a sampling of whatever produce items are in season during any particular week. There are also CSAs that offer other farm products, too, such as meat and eggs, and sometimes milk. Our CSA only supplies organic produce.

Q: Does someone have to pick up their basket every week or is it delivered to their door?

A: They pick it up at either the farm or at a drop-off point — for us, it’s the farmers’ market on Wednesday in Boulder.

Q: How does a membership in a CSA contribute to a greener lifestyle?

A: It provides one with the opportunity to connect more with their natural world versus just buying a random produce item out of the produce section in a store.

If a person drove from Louisville out to our farm, that wouldn’t be very efficient, but if a person rode his bicycle down to the farmers’ market and picked up their share and rode the bicycle home…

Q: What effect does it have on the local economy?

A: Well, it keeps the money right here. It helps us instead of spending the money and it going to faraway places. It’s supporting a local organic farm right in the community. I think a lot of people feel like that’s a good thing.

Q: In a difficult economy, some people may be worried about the cost of a membership in a CSA. Do the benefits outweigh the cost or can it, in fact, be a money-saving strategy?

A: I think that the first thing that one needs to consider is that what they are doing is they are shifting their food dollars. So this is not a separate purchase such as buying a new car or new television or a new pair of shoes or something that perhaps a person doesn’t necessarily need.

People have to buy food, so I think that the idea is, “Well, I’m going to be buying food anyway, so I’m going to buy food this way instead of all of my purchases going through the grocery store.”

Secondly, I think that it comes out about the same. We keep track of what goes in the sharebox each week, and people come out ahead buying through the CSA versus going to the farmers’ market. Plus there are all the other intangibles that we talked about before like having a place to take your kids. So, I think it’s an excellent value.

Q: Anything else that people should know about CSAs? Or about your CSA specifically?

A:  CSA is unlike any other business arrangement that I’m aware of, in that there’s a risk involved. And the risk is that some type of unfortunate weather event will severely damage the crop, in which case, the person’s going to get a lot less produce than they would during a great growing season. So I would say it requires a certain level of maturity and integrity and it’s not for everybody.

In fact, I would say that only a very, very small percentage of people are really going to be happy doing a CSA program long term.

The other thing, too, is that people need to be in the area, and they need to be willing to take the responsibility to pick up their box.

It’s a contract. It’s a very mature, adult relationship. A person needs to really take a hard look at it, a very realistic look at this, and see if it’s for them, and if it’s not, then they should just go to the farmers’ market because the farmers’ market is a much better arrangement for most people.

It’s definitely a commitment. I would say though, that we definitely have a real solid core of people that have been with us for years and years and years. And to those people, their CSA membership is one of the most valuable aspects of their lives — that’s what they tell us. And that gives me such a warm feeling in my heart when I see those kinds of people come back year after year and I see their kids growing up and I see them growing older. We’re going through life together and we have this beautiful relationship and that’s what keeps us going with the CSA.