CSA stands for “Community Supported Agriculture,” and is just one of the many ways customers who believe in “real, transparent food” can support a farmer.
And in truth, there are so many names for a CSA – Vegetable Subscription, Farm Share, Harvest Box…you get the idea. The basic premise is receiving a share of the harvested, in-season farm crops for a set number of weeks, typically after pre-paying or signing up for this service.
But it’s not the only way to support a local farmer or agricultural goods.
And truth time: Joining a CSA Share is not a good fit for everyone. Don’t feel bad if it’s not a match for you.
To help you decide if CSA is right for you and before you sign up for this seasonal commitment to a specific farmer, have a read of the 6 ways you can know if joining a CSA is right for you.
#1 You Want to Support a Farmer
Effective CSAs focus on the farmer-customer relationship as much as the product.
In our surveys, we find the number one reason a member joined our CSA was to support a local farmer.
We totally get it. There’s something rewarding about knowing you are doing your part to support a local business.
Joining a CSA is a decision you can build into your weekly routine that allows you to access great-tasting food where you know exactly how it was grown and who played a role in bringing it to your table. Food becomes personal.
>>> Related: Our Growing Practices
#2 You Know Your Summer Plans
In our CSA, we ask you to think about your commitment before you sign up.
- Will you be gone a lot this summer?
- Is your the pickup site and time convenient?
- Is life too busy to fit this in right now?
Most CSAs are designed for people who know they can make that weekly commitment. Every CSA is different, but knowing your plans for the duration of the CSA season will help you determine if it’s the right fit for you.
Before 2025, in our CSA, you have a few options if you find your schedule conflicting with pick up.
- Send a substitute in your place. A spouse, a neighbor, even a parent is able to pick up your share from us on your behalf.
- Ask us to hold your share at the farm for 2 days. You are responsible for scheduling and confirming a time to come to the farm to pick up your share.
- If you are going on vacation you have 3 options with our CSA:
- 1) Find a friend to take your share for you and either store it until you return OR eat it themselves!
- 2) Select “Vacation Mode” for up to 3 weeks of the CSA season. Being on “Vacation Mode” allows members to pause/cancel their CSA share for the week they are away; rather than having to identify another person willing to pick up their share. By selecting this option, you will not be charged for those weeks.
- 3) Let it flow into a local food pantry. We’ll donate your share to the Buffalo Community Fridge.
However, for 2025 we are launching our Market Membership CSA. This model will allow folks to spend down a farm debit card on their purchases from our farm from April to December, without the hassle of coordinating weekly pick up schedule.
>>> Related: Market Membership CSA Shares
#3 You Value High-Quality Produce
A CSA member loves high-quality food, and they’re willing to pay for it.
Cardboard tomatoes in the winter. (Yuck). If you’re a foodie, you know this frustration well.
Taste matters to you. You know that putting together a delicious meal in your kitchen doesn’t just come down to cooking skills. It starts with quality ingredients.
Our vegetables taste different than what you’d get at the grocery store. That’s because:
- We harvest your produce less than 48 hours before you pick it up. It’s fresh and full of nutrients.
- We pay attention to building quality soil that is rich in organic matter and bio-nutrients.
CSAs are all about providing high-quality, fresh vegetables that make your home dining experience feel like a special event every night. If you’re just looking for some basic lettuce and carrots at the cheapest price so you can make a salad tonight…joining a is not your gig.
>>> Related: Learn more about our CSA
#4 You’re Flexible in Your Cooking
CSA members have to learn to be flexible with their menu and make things work in the kitchen, because you often don’t know what you will get in your share until a few days before the pick up.
We send our members a list on Sunday of what they’ll receive at Wednesday pick up.
Some people love this spontaneity. Others will be stressed by it. Which one are you?
Think hard on this: If you’re someone that planned for a meatless pasta dinner on Wednesday, will you be able to adjust and make a plan B, when your share doesn’t have all the ingredients you need? Would you be able to pivot and make something else or feel confident substituting ingredients?
We do provide our members with suggested recipes each week based on the share’s contents and list items that can be swapped in recipes, but there is an element of being out of complete control when you join a CSA.
The number one reason members give us for leaving our CSA is: “I didn’t get enough of the things I wanted, and I got too much of the things I didn’t.”
A CSA works best for customers who see their kitchen as a creative space, and our vegetables as the “paint” for their canvas.
>>> Related: Join our Email List
#5 You Enjoy Trying New Foods
Being a member of a CSA will push you to try new foods and explore variety in your kitchen.
You will discover new veggies you love, but you’ll probably also get a few veggies you “tolerate.”
“…We also enjoyed vegetables new to us, such as ground cherries, tomatillos, those purple peas in the pod, & lovage, etc. Also enjoyed the kohlrabi – it’s hard to find.”
Rachel, CSA Member
Part of the CSA experience means getting exposed to a wide variety of vegetable cultivars and giving you many chances to find ways to enjoy them.
Left to your own devices, would you purposely put a kohlrabi in your shopping cart?
Part of the goal in offering a CSA on our farm is to support food diversity and to teach our communities (and our kids) how to eat seasonally again.
If you want to grow in the kitchen, you have to push yourself to try new ingredients.
We put veggies in your share that you may have never seen before, and we teach you how to eat them with our supporting resource guides and recipes.
#6 You’re Willing to Waste Some Food
It takes a while to get used to eating the CSA way.
Many of our customers say it took about 2 seasons before they learned how to consistently use the share’s full contents.
We share lots of tips and resources with our members to help you learn the ropes – so you are not all alone!
But, just like weeks when you head to the grocery store, you may have the best intentions to cook everything in your share that week… and then real life sets in, the veggies begin to pile up in the back of the fridge, and you start to feel like you’re feeding the compost bin.
It takes time to develop new habits and learn how to eat the CSA way.
If you are committed to learning how, you can do it! But it may take a season or two before you feel like you’ve got it 100% down. Do you have the staying power to “work” at a CSA?
So is Joining a CSA Right for You?
For those who value the story, the journey, and the farmer relationship behind the food, a CSA can be a great option that can change the way you eat forever.
Remember, being a CSA member is just one model available to you for getting fresh farm food onto your table. That’s why we offer so many ways to bring our vegetables home with you. You can find our veggies here.
But if you’ve determined a CSA is right for you, hop over to our CSA page to get all the details and become a member today!
Schul Farmstead 
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