Wanted: CSAs for a Tri-State Directory

Michigan is one of three states involved in a new SARE-funded project to describe and promote community supported agriculture (CSA) in the mid-west. The project, "Improving the Environment for Community Supported Agriculture in Michigan, Ohio and Indiana," is designed to assess the status of CSAs in all three states and to increase public and Extension awareness of the philosophy, organization and operational needs of these small, people-centered, direct marketing ventures.

In the words of the grant, "(c)ommunity supported agriculture has become a popular and creative model for providing small diversified farmers with a marketing alternative and eaters with a source of high quality, locally-grown food. By distributing the risks and rewards of food production and consumption throughout a geographically-based community, CSAs can also foster ecological and social awareness. Nevertheless, as small-scale, labor intensive agricultural enterprises, CSAs are still quite vulnerable. In some regions of the country, CSA networks provide needed infrastructrual support. This is not the case in Michigan, Ohio and Indiana where little public recognition or collective action presently exists."

The project will address this shortcoming by researching, publishing and distributing a tri-state CSA directory profiling all existing CSAs in the region. In addition, a slide show presentation will be developed to introduce the CSA concept to small farmers, agricultural professionals, community leaders and the public-at-large. The year-long project will also plan and seek funding for a tri-state CSA conference scheduled for the Fall of 1999. The conference will be a first step toward establishing the many social, material and informational networks that enable greater CSA stability and viability.

Efforts are now underway to identify all existing (or recently existing) CSAs in Michigan. If you know of a CSA, have been a member of a CSA or have started a CSA in Michigan, please contact Laura B. DeLind, project coordinator, at 517-355-7490 (delind@pilot.msu.edu) or April Allison, project field researcher, at 517-855-2277.

The project grant was awarded to the Michigan Organic Food and Farm Alliance (MOFFA) by the North Central Region Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education Professional Development Program. MOFFA will be working with the Ohio Ecological Food and Farm Alliance in Ohio and Sustainable Earth, Inc. in Indiana. For additional information about the project contact either Laura B. DeLind or April Allison.

Return to the Index of Synapse 42, Winter 1997/98