Growing in Place

With these objectives in mind, Growing in Place has two main programmatic foci. The first is to grow high-quality, pesticide-free food for Mason-area residents using Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) as an operational model. The CSA concept has become extremely popular in the U.S. over the last ten years and there are now over 400 CSAs in the nation (Groh and McFadden 1990; Van En 1988; Cicero 1993; The Natural Farmer 1993). This model provides an opportunity for farmers and eaters (also called shareholders) to interact directly with one another and to accept mutual responsibility for the production of regionally-adapted, minimally processed fruits and vegetables (and sometimes animal products like honey, eggs, meat and milk).

At the start of each growing season, shareholders invest in a farming operation. The value of a share is calculated to meet grower salaries and operational costs and tends to range between $300 and $500. In return for this 'up front' investment, shareholders receive a bag (or bags) of seasonal produce once a week throughout the growing season, a period that typically stretches from June through October. In this way, the farmer is assured a living wage and production risks are shared as is all seasonal abundance. A disastrous melon crop may mean no melons for anyone. A bumper crop of tomatoes, on the other hand, may mean tomato sauce, juice and salsa for everyone.

Because CSAs are small in scale and labor intensive, members are also encouraged to participate whenever possible in 'on-farm' and administrative activities (weeding, harvesting, transporting) as well as in all CSA workshops, picnics and harvest celebrations. It is also possible for extra labor and individual skills (grant writing, bookkeeping, machine repair, childcare) to be exchanged for full or partial shares. In this way, human knowledge and effort are rewarded -- recognized as having social and economic value apart from any formal market assessment.

Through their participation in the CSA, shareholders and growers learn to eat in season. They grow familiar with the cycles and complexities of natural systems and experience first-hand the importance of biological diversity to environmental and human health. At the same time, they are encouraged to rethink the prevailing patterns of food production, distribution, consumption and waste management. In this way, the CSA is capable of being a socially and environmentally sensitive instrument for community building and food system reform.

But Growing in Place is not only about the production and marketing of locally grown produce, no matter how sustainable the methods or nontraditional the enterprise. Of equal importance is the program's second focus, that of 'learning in locality' or place bound learning. As a population, we have distanced ourselves from processes and environments that are critical to our well-being. We are more familiar, for example, with the destruction of the rainforests than we are with the condition of our own hardwood forests and watersheds. We are more familiar with the nightly stock market report than with the ecological and aesthetic value (vs commodity value) of our local green spaces and agricultural lands. We are more familiar with heroic measures to feed the hungry than we are with how our daily behaviors, food choices among them, contribute to the quality of our lives and the lives of our neighbors. We are losing, in other words, our ability to think in place and to understand the diverse relationships that exist there. It is a loss not only of self-reliance, but also of self-awareness, of identity and rootedness.

Growing in Place will serve as a site of active, 'hands-on' learning for Mason-area residents to explore the dimensions of place especially as they relate to food production and the food system. In this capacity, Growing in Place will create student internships and invite community residents, of all ages, to use the site to learn how to raise good food and to investigate alternative production practices and their relationship to the ecosystem. Kindergarten classes, master gardening classes, high school science classes may all make use of the facilities. Workshops on permaculture, composting, methods of biological pest control will be scheduled as will 'parties' organized around food-related activities like baking bread or making apple butter, garlic braids or salsa.

The Growing in Place site will provide an opportunity to learn more directly about how the food system works locally. Where does the food sold locally come from? Where does locally grown produce go? What would it take to get local institutions (restaurants, schools, daycare centers) to purchase and use locally grown food? What opportunities exist locally for processing or adding value to locally grown produce? Does local food security exist? How can it be measured and strengthened? Questions such as these will emerge from site activities and be used to initiate future projects and research.

The site will also accommodate research designed by students from the Mason-area and MSU and by local residents to address problems that relate to place. These projects might include topics such as the recycling of organic waste materials in the area, assessing the nutritional value of indigenous plants and weeds, attending to the diverse food needs of different sectors of the community population. All such research will require paying close attention to local conditions and to the long-term sustainability of people and the bioregion.

The Growing in Place CSA will be established on a 20 acre farm site donated for this purpose by its owner Markus Held. The farm is located at 4183 W. Columbia Hwy., Mason, Ml 48854 within 10-15 miles of East Lansing, Holt, Grand Ledge, Dimondale, and Leslie. In addition to its accessibility, the site has multiple resources for CSA development and on-farm research. It has a 1/4 acre of newly planted asparagus, 500 fruit trees and is the home of SunRay Milling, a facility that cleans and bags organic spelt and dry beans. The CSA has received endorsement and financial support from Michigan Integrated Food and Farming Systems (MIFFS), a program funded directly by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation.

The Growing in Place CSA will be offering a limited number of shares (i.e., 25-30) for the 1996 season. For more information phone (517) 676-7062.