Eating locally grows new roots
By Georgina Gustin
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
Monday, Feb. 18 2008

Like many Midwestern cities, St. Louis is an island in a sea of fields. Drive
in any direction and eventually urban streets will yield to suburban
developments, which will finally give way to farms.

But most of those farms don't sustain the people they surround, at least not
directly.

Sara Hale hopes for a future where they do.

Last summer, Hale and her sister Jamie Choler dreamed up an idea to connect
area farmers, producers and their products with residents hungry for locally
grown, raised and crafted food.

"We want to introduce people to the farmers. They're going to know who they
are," said Hale, with the steady determination of a crusader. "They're going to
know that these are Dave's eggs, or Karlios' or Michelle's. They'll know whose
peppers they're getting. We want people to say, 'Ron's tomatoes are great this
week.'"

That relationship between consumer and producer, she believes, will one day
transform more area farm acreage into land that yields actual sustenance rather
than commodities. The goal, ultimately, is a safer, fresher food supply that
comes from environmentally sustainable farms, sharing a stronger connection to
the people they feed.

Hale's and Choler's idea is built on a concept known as Community Supported
Agriculture, or CSA, where consumers buy shares in a local farmer's seasonal
yield. The farmer gets the cash, usually before the harvest season begins, and
for the next four, five or six months, the member gets a weekly box of produce
delivered directly from the farm. In this way, the consumer shares in the
financial risks of farming — the vagaries of weather or pests — providing a
stable market for farmers and getting fresh vegetables, fruits and herbs in
return.

The first CSA in the St. Louis area started about 10 years ago. There are at
least eight currently, but with environmental and safety concerns spurring an
appetite for locally grown food, some CSA farms are struggling to meet demand
and have long waiting lists.

"They sell out super-fast," said Amy Cloud, of Three Rivers Community Farm, in
Elsah, which began its CSA program last year. "We sold out in November, and we
already have 75 people on a waiting list for 2009. The market in St. Louis is
insatiable."

Eric Loeber, a new CSA farmer in Villa Ridge, Mo., said he has had to turn away
50 people who were interested in signing up. "I'm pretty much overwhelmed," he
said. "The phone's been ringing off the hook."

Hale and Choler recognized that demand, and came up with their own enterprise,
called Fair Shares, which will operate differently from most CSAs, in a format
they're calling a combined CSA.

Hale and Choler, who live in St. Louis, are not farmers. They instead have
forged relationships with farmers who have committed to providing a certain
amount of produce for shareholders each week. Fair Shares also has made
arrangements with producers of meat — grass-fed beef and lamb, chicken, pork
and possibly trout — and of eggs, cheese, honey, pasta and other goods. So each
week, for 47 weeks, members will get a box filled with a combination of
produce, meat and other local food items.

Read the rest of the story
http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/emaf.nsf/Popup?ReadFor...759F862573F300111539

It makes sense too.

This farmers market (http://stlouis.missouri.org/citygov/soulardmarket/) in St. Louis is so cheap, you could stuff a family with fruits and veggies for a week on 30-40 bucks. Stuff does not hold as well as the grocery store. Guess that is because of stuff being shipped from far away and some local stuff being grown without so many preservatives. I know some of the people in the booths just go to produce row and buy the extras and bulk from the wholesalers, while some are local farmers.

Other smaller farmers markets here (http://www.fergusonfarmersmarket.com/products.html) do a better job of identifying sellers, their products and their sources so that you can specifically target what you want. We need to do a better job of supporting local growers and those who dont use genetically modified seed. Who the hell wants fruit with no seed.


http://mofarmersmarket.blogspot.com/2007/12/new-ccsa-op...ity-in-st-louis.html

My parents shopped this way when I was growing up...but is wasn't called CSA, the way it is now.

I am also fascinated how when White folks disover somehting that been done for years--they like to slap a name on it and suddenly it becomes "the thing to do."