BANGOR, Maine — Maine farmers reported Sunday that community supported agriculture is growing in popularity, delivering fresh food to Mainers’ doorsteps and helping to keep local farming viable.
Twelve community supported agriculture, or CSA, groups were represented at the seventh annual Community Supported Agriculture Fair at the Sea Dog Banquet Hall in Bangor.
The event is sponsored by Food AND Medicine — a Brewer-based nonprofit organization working to empower economic and social justice — in conjunction with the Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association.
According to Kat Sheridan, agriculture organizer for Food AND Medicine, part of the group’s mission is to create a livable community in the Bangor region and that means fresh, healthy food.
“That means that we’re going to have to have farmers that are supported and are doing well and can really provide us with excellent food. And community supported agriculture is the best way to make that happen,” she said.
Those who participate in a CSA purchase a share of a local farm each spring with costs ranging from $200 to $500 per year, depending on the CSA and the amount of food expected. In return, they get fresh vegetables, fruits, meats, dairy products, flowers and other farm produce throughout the season.
“CSAs are a good way to challenge yourself a bit, because farmers are usually putting it together for you, so you’re getting what’s in season, what they’re growing. And maybe you’re going to get something in there that you’ve never tried before but that grows really well in this region,” Sheridan said.
For farmers, CSAs provide important investments during planting season, making farming more economically viable in Maine.
For Sean Murphy, operator of Murphy Family Farm in Freedom, income from CSA shares provided almost all of his start-up capital when he started his own farm last season, signing up to provide fresh vegetables for Siberia Farms’ door-to-door deliveries of dairy and meats products.
“This is where we push more veggies through than anywhere else,” he said.
“I usually end up picking stuff Thursday morning and it gets delivered Thursday afternoon,” he said.
Murphy hopes to raise $10,000 to $15,000 through CSA shares this year, as he plans to add kashmir goat pelts, blueberries, grapes, apples, plums and other produce to his line-up.
“The veggies are a way to get into farming, and then those are a way to stay farming, hopefully,” he said.
For Molly Crouse, owner of Nettie Fox Farm in Newburgh, CSA shares make economically viable farming an easier goal to obtain.
After five years in operation, most of the farm’s income still comes from sales at farmers’ markets, but the percentage from CSA shares grows each year, she said.
“This year I think it’s at least 20 percent,” she said.
CSA farmers said shareholders get to eat like their ancestors did, consuming what’s in season locally, usually the same day it’s picked.
“They get to follow the season of the farm, get vegetables that are in season and feel like they’re supporting the local farming community in this state, and they are, because this is a way that we can stay in business,” Crouse said.
While CSAs help make farming more economically viable, it doesn’t make farming any less work.
“It’s a lifestyle. You wake up in the morning and you go outside and you farm,” said Murphy. “It’s a lot of work, but it’s honest work, and I can’t see myself doing anything else.”
Follow Evan Belanger on Twitter at @evanbelanger.