{"id":516,"date":"2021-05-19T12:21:15","date_gmt":"2021-05-19T12:21:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/simplestartnutrition.com\/?p=516"},"modified":"2021-05-19T23:52:56","modified_gmt":"2021-05-19T23:52:56","slug":"what-is-a-csa-community-supported-agriculture","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/simplestartnutrition.com\/?p=516","title":{"rendered":"What is a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture)?"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t<div data-elementor-type=\"wp-post\" data-elementor-id=\"516\" class=\"elementor elementor-516\" data-elementor-post-type=\"post\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-7ab76140 elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"7ab76140\" data-element_type=\"section\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-100 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-37900d32\" data-id=\"37900d32\" data-element_type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-0f85e3b elementor-widget elementor-widget-theme-post-title elementor-page-title elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"0f85e3b\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"theme-post-title.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h1 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">What is a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture)?<\/h1>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-2ee9684 elementor-widget elementor-widget-theme-post-featured-image elementor-widget-image\" data-id=\"2ee9684\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"theme-post-featured-image.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"198\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/simplestartnutrition.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/CSA.jpeg?fit=300%2C198&amp;ssl=1\" class=\"attachment-medium size-medium wp-image-527\" alt=\"person holding basket of vegetables\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/simplestartnutrition.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/CSA.jpeg?w=1080&amp;ssl=1 1080w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/simplestartnutrition.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/CSA.jpeg?resize=300%2C198&amp;ssl=1 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/simplestartnutrition.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/CSA.jpeg?resize=1024%2C674&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/simplestartnutrition.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/CSA.jpeg?resize=768%2C506&amp;ssl=1 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-74a1fb1e elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"74a1fb1e\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">My husband and I recently had another couple over and the topic of a CSA came up.&nbsp; Our friends have belonged to a CSA for some time now and truly love it!&nbsp; As the conversation continued my husband asked, \u201cWhat is a CSA?\u201d&nbsp; As I provided an explanation, I thought it might be helpful to break it down for you too!&nbsp; So here we go.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>What is a CSA?&nbsp;<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A CSA, or a Community Supported Agriculture, is a way for you to buy local seasonal food items, typically vegetables, directly from your local farms.&nbsp; Each farm&#8217;s CSA will typically offer a specific number of \u201cshares\u201d to purchase per season and identify the season in which they are offered.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>What is a share?&nbsp;<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A share is your box of seasonal produce you receive in exchange for an upfront cost and or volunteer hours on the farm.&nbsp; Most shares include a variety of in season vegetables freshly picked, but may also include additional farm products like meat, cheese or fruit. There also may be different sizes of shares.&nbsp; The typical sizes of the shares are: Personal (1-2 people), Half Share (3-4 people), Full Share (families\/parties of 5+).&nbsp; Full Shares are able to be split with other couples\/families if you\u2019d like.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>When do you sign up?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Because there is typically a fixed number of shares that the farm offers per season, it is important to act fast before they sell out.&nbsp; Also the earlier you sign up typically results in a cheaper rate.&nbsp; As it gets closer to the start date, the cost may increase.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Why would you join a CSA?&nbsp;<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li><strong><em>Your food is super fresh!<\/em><\/strong>&nbsp;<ul><li>Typically, the food for the share is picked the morning of and the shares are picked up in the afternoon\/evening of the same day. So your items are super fresh!&nbsp; Yum!&nbsp;<\/li><\/ul><\/li><li>You get to try new food items&nbsp;<ul><li>Maybe your share includes a bunch of beets, which is something you wouldn\u2019t typically buy at the food store.&nbsp; This gives you the chance to try something new, learn more about the nutrition value of the item and maybe experiment with a new recipe too!<\/li><li>Some Farms may even share some links to recipes and\/or videos about the food item.&nbsp; Especially about food items some may not be familiar with.&nbsp;<\/li><\/ul><\/li><li>You have the opportunity to meet the farmers that grow your food<ul><li>It\u2019s interesting to hear where your food comes from and how the season overall is going for them.&nbsp;<\/li><li>When I worked at a CSA distribution location in 2014, this was probably my favorite part.&nbsp; Once a week I got to hear about how the season\u2019s crops were doing and stories of their work on the farm.&nbsp; Being a city girl, I learned a lot.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/li><\/ul><\/li><li>Support your local Farms!&nbsp;<ul><li>Farms get to receive their payment early in the season, which is clearly beneficial to them<\/li><li>Some farms that do CSA have a farm store, which can give you the opportunity to buy additional items that are in season or explore more selections of items.&nbsp; You likely can purchase other items in the farm that are not offered in your share too, like local honey or jams.&nbsp; More ways to support your favorite farm.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I spoke with my friend, Kaitlin Petrone, a little more about her experience with her CSA (VonThun\u2019s Country Farm Market located in NJ).&nbsp; She stated, \u201cOur CSA was about $17 a week, since I signed up early, for 20 weeks and it ends up being lots of produce, which is worth the price for us.\u201d&nbsp; She noted that she only receives vegetables, but they do offer fruit, egg and grass fed beef options, which can be added to their vegetable share.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">If you are interested in looking into a share for yourself or family, I suggest a simple Google search, checking your favorite local farms to see if they offer them or searching on <a href=\"http:\/\/www.localharvest.org\/\">www.localharvest.org<\/a> to get started.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This blog was written by Amanda J, Stahl, RD, LDN, co-founder of Simple Start Nutrition.&nbsp; For more blog posts and nutrition information follow @simplestartnutrition on Instagram and Facebook.&nbsp; Also feel free to contact us, by visiting our website (<a href=\"http:\/\/simplestartnutrition.com\/\">simplestartnutrition.com<\/a>) to schedule an appointment to discuss your nutrition related needs.&nbsp; We are here to help.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">References:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/vonthunfarms.com\/\">https:\/\/vonthunfarms.com\/<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.localharvest.org\/csa\/\">https:\/\/www.localharvest.org\/csa\/<\/a><\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-c28d05c elementor-post-navigation-borders-yes elementor-widget elementor-widget-post-navigation\" data-id=\"c28d05c\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"post-navigation.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-post-navigation\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-post-navigation__prev elementor-post-navigation__link\">\n\t\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/simplestartnutrition.com\/?p=440\" rel=\"prev\"><span class=\"post-navigation__arrow-wrapper post-navigation__arrow-prev\"><i class=\"fa fa-angle-left\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i><span class=\"elementor-screen-only\">Prev<\/span><\/span><span class=\"elementor-post-navigation__link__prev\"><span class=\"post-navigation__prev--label\">Previous<\/span><span class=\"post-navigation__prev--title\">So\u2026How Exactly Do I Burn Calories?<\/span><\/span><\/a>\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-post-navigation__separator-wrapper\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-post-navigation__separator\"><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-post-navigation__next elementor-post-navigation__link\">\n\t\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/simplestartnutrition.com\/?p=562\" rel=\"next\"><span class=\"elementor-post-navigation__link__next\"><span class=\"post-navigation__next--label\">Next<\/span><span class=\"post-navigation__next--title\">Pump Up Your Blood with Iron<\/span><\/span><span class=\"post-navigation__arrow-wrapper post-navigation__arrow-next\"><i class=\"fa fa-angle-right\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i><span class=\"elementor-screen-only\">Next<\/span><\/span><\/a>\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>My husband and I recently had another couple over and the topic of a CSA came up.&nbsp; Our friends have belonged to a CSA for<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":527,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"elementor_header_footer","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-516","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/simplestartnutrition.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/CSA.jpeg?fit=1080%2C711&ssl=1","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/simplestartnutrition.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/516","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/simplestartnutrition.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/simplestartnutrition.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/simplestartnutrition.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/simplestartnutrition.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=516"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/simplestartnutrition.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/516\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":525,"href":"https:\/\/simplestartnutrition.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/516\/revisions\/525"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/simplestartnutrition.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/527"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/simplestartnutrition.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=516"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/simplestartnutrition.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=516"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/simplestartnutrition.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=516"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}