Getting Rid Of Your Grocer

CBS Evening News: Community Supported Agriculture Lets Customers Buy Produce Straight From The Farm

(CBS)  Consumers seeking a healthy lifestyle these days are increasingly cutting out the supermarket and going straight to the farmer for fresh fruits and vegetables. CBS News correspondent Kelly Cobiella reports that community-supported agriculture is a growing trend.

On a small farm in Palm Beach County, Fla., it's harvesting season. They're picking and packing. Only this bounty isn't headed for a big warehouse or grocery store.

It's going from Nancy Roe's fields straight to Florida kitchens. From field to table. No stops in between.

It's called community supported agriculture or CSA - part of the "buy local" movement. Customers pay Roe directly, and she sends them a box of fresh produce every week of the growing season.

"Our business really is [doing] better than most people's businesses," these days, Roe said.

It can cost anywhere from $25 to $50 a week, while the average family spends under $12 on fruit and vegetables. Still, demand far outweighs supply.

Even with the recession, Roe is doing pretty well. "I was a little surprised," she said. "Last year when we had our signup period that starts in August, we were full in six days."

That kind of success isn't limited to growers in warm winter climates like Florida. Across the country consumers are signing up in record numbers.

There are 2,500 CSAs and the movement is growing, with subscriber numbers in the tens of thousands.

"People will just really want that connection to know where their food comes from," said professor Jim Hanson, an agricultural economist at the University of Maryland.

Hanson says the popularity is, in part, an outgrowth of food scares - like salmonella linked to spinach two years ago, to jalapenos last year and this year, peanut butter.

"For many of the people participating in CSAs, this is becomes like health care, it becomes like an education," Hanson said. "Quality food is just a core necessity for their family."

Customers get to try foods they wouldn't normally buy at the grocery store, and they get to know the person who's growing it.

"I don't have to go into the store and wonder, 'Ok, where did this come from? How many airplane trips did this package of lettuce take?'" said CSA participant Scott Kisker.

There is a different kind of risk involved - if the farmer has a bad season, the customer still has to pay.

"I should be taking care of my customers with good harvests. I'm not always perfect at it, by any means. 2007, the drought of 2007 definitely reminded me of how imperfect I was," said Brett Grohsgale of Even'star Organic Farm.

Even so, growers like Grohsgale have a waiting list to join every year.

"There are so many more people who want to buy local than there are farms willing to deliver," he said.

So Nancy Roe is already plotting what she'll grow next year.

[walkshe]

I keep a few rabbits to fertilize my garden spot. Rabbit manure is one of the best organic fertilizers you can get and doesn't have to be composted...will not burn plants. I keep a few laying hens and let them free range. Can't STAND chemicals on my place...nope, no way. The laying hens take care of the buggies. I have 2 acres and have considered starting a small business growing heirloom veggies and/or selling started heirloom plants. Sounds like it may be a great time to do that.

[hsudul]

I live in the AShland-Medford area of Oregon where we have a growing frenzy. Many
are grwoing their own tomatoes and our local Farmers Market are filled with eager
buyers. The mere fact that food need not be transported half way arcross the world
gives a fresher and tastier product.
Last year I lived in Sacramento and we also had a Farmers Market however much of
that produce wa bought from a big wholesaler and knowing exactly where it came from
was not known. However in Oregon the fever to grow has never been more intense.
I hope you will continue to give a positive bulletins about our garden harvests... this
is exactly the kind of news that will heal the wounds of a bad economy.

[actornaught]

Both of us here work full time, and the kids are only here parttime. But we keep a nice little garden and do some canning, specializing in pickled string beans, best thing on a ketchup hot dog. We're expanding our duck herd from the (experimental) mallard pair to what will probably be 8 layers. Should be interesting.

It was really windy yesterday. Ever see a mallard fly backwards?

[trillion1]

The first year we had our house I put in a garden. During a good summer we are stocked with fruit and vegatables for winter. I would love to see these monsterous agra corperations go under. The amount of chemicals they use is obscene. We gladly pay more at a store if we know the produce came from a family farm.

[agri101]

Farmers markets may become a thing of the past if HR875 passes. This bill has been introduced by Represenat Rosa De Lauro (Democrat from Connecticut) whose husband is reported to work for Monsanto.(a large agribusiness company). The billt has the potential of making the small family farm too expensive and regulation bound to survive. The bill defines a Food Production Facility as any farm, ranch, orchard, vineyard, aquaculture facility, or confined animal-feeding operation.

Democrats are supposed to be for the little guy but this bill is for big agribusiness. It is being presented under the guise of "food safety". Another effort at total government control of all activities. I hope you will look up the bill and contact your congressmen on this.

[formrusmcsgt]

I live in Las Vegas and groww all of our own tomatoes and peppers.

If you can grow veggies in the middle of the desert with extreme heat, it can be done anywhere.

Most are simply too lazy to do so.

I started doing so years ago because I lerned that while some chemicals are topical, many are systemic - which means no amount of washing will remove them.

I know what's in my veggies, do you?

[j_flood]

The way it should be.

[tbbaot]

This is the one movement that will have great impact on US corporate farms. Stop paying corporations that hire illegals and suck up government subsidies. I like it.

[formrusmcsgt]

the average family spends under $12 on fruit and vegetables
----
No wonder most kids look like blimps.....

[debinok1]

What most people do not realize is that growing a garden does not have to be a huge undertaking. A small garden does not require a lot of care, and almost anyone can plant a small family garden in their backyard. Even in most apartment complexes a small container garden is very simple. For less than $50 I planted a container garden right outside my front door. That little graden will provide fresh vegetables all summer. What we do not use, we donate or can for winter.