Having a backup plan — multiple varieties of greens, for instance — is critical since members share the farmer’s risk. If a particular crops fails, members typically have to go without or find another source.
“Anyone who has ever tried to grow vegetables, or any type of plants, knows that sometimes you lose them,” said Susan Speers, 59, a member of Tangerini’s CSA.
In practice, the process takes stress that normally falls on the shoulders of the farmer and spreads it out.
“It’s a wonderful way for farmers to maybe not get caught up in that lending and financing thing, because if they have a bad season, that can put them under,” said Christine Mayer, program manager of the Fulton Center for Sustainable Living at Wilson College in Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, which tracks US CSAs and also runs its own 2.4 hectare farm.
“It takes a lot of the risk and a lot of the fear out of the farming,” said Ben Doherty, who co-founded Open Hands Farm outside Northfield, Minnesota, in 2006. “If we have mediocre or bad tomatoes for the year, we don’t make US$5,000 or US$10,000 less. Everybody gets a few less tomatoes.”
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