How to Choose a CSA

Are you ready to subscribe to a farm share?  The next step is to learn how to choose a CSA. If you are reading this and are not familiar with CSA, it stands for community supported agriculture, which is a way to get your food directly from local farmers. However, not every farm is created equal and there are a few things you need to consider before you sign up.

The first time I joined a CSA was about 10 years ago. I stumbled across a nearby farm almost by accident. I knew nothing about farm shares at that time, but signed up anyways and never looked back! 

You could jump right in and learn as you go like I did, but why not use the knowledge I’ve gained over the years to find the best match for you right from the start?

How to Choose a CSA: Criteria

There is a lot to consider when picking a CSA that is right for you. Where you live, the number of people in your family, the type of food you want, and if you are cooking for picky eaters will all weigh into your final decision on how to choose a CSA.  Read below for the different factors to consider.

1. Food type

CSA has grown exponentially over the past decade. It started with small farmers enlisting members for their vegetable produce.  Now more farms have expanded to include fruit, meat, eggs, bread, honey, syrup, milk, and even flower shares. Not all farms are going to offer every type; you may need to subscribe to several to get everything you are looking for.

I recommend starting with a standard summer vegetable share and expanding once you become used to the process. Some farms work with nearby growers to offer add-ons to the regular produce, such as eggs that are delivered with each week’s vegetables, or apples in the fall. This is a way to dip your toes into experiencing a variety of different farm offerings. 

2. Season

Since you are getting your food right from local farms, you will only be able to get certain foods during certain seasons. You will need to sign up well in advance of that season.

For vegetables, a spring share will be filled with greens and some remaining storage produce like potatoes and carrots from the previous growing season. Summer will offer the most variety as most foods grow during this season. Fall/winter CSA shares are full of storage produce that can keep for months if stored properly.

You can expect a summer share to provide you with vegetables for around 20 weeks of the year. You can then decide if you want to return to grocery shopping for your produce or continue to eat seasonally with a fall/winter or spring share. 

Beyond vegetables, other share types may only be offered at the times when they are harvested. For example, a fruit share may give you strawberries, blueberries, and raspberries in the summer and apples in the fall. Fruit shares would not be available in the winter or spring. However, a syrup share would likely be available in the spring when maple trees are tapped. And obviously, flower shares are only available when the flowers are blooming!

Other types of farm shares, like meat and eggs, may be offered year round.

3. Location

Location may be the biggest factor that goes in to your decision when you are deciding how to choose a CSA. It isn’t necessarily a matter of where the farm is, but rather where the drop off locations are.

The great thing about farm shares is that the farmers try to find centrally located drop sites where customers can easily access their CSA box.  This could be another member’s garage, a coffee shop, a library, or even your work building if you have a large employer. Obviously if you live close to the farm, you could pick it up right there or they may be willing to deliver right to you. We are blessed that our meat farm drops off our share once a month to a cooler that we leave on our porch.

So do your research by going directly to a farm’s website (see below for where to find the farms). Every farm should be upfront about where the drop off sites are located.  

4. Quantity

A common reason why first time CSA members don’t sign up the next year is that they are overwhelmed with the amount of produce in each box and a big portion of it ends up in the garbage. That is not good for the environment and it means you are wasting a lot of money on food you are not eating. A good way to avoid this situation is to make sure that you start out small and get the right amount of food to match your family’s consumption. 

If you follow my blog, you know that my family doesn’t eat out…ever. Except for birthdays and vacations, we cook our meals at home every day of the year, breakfast, lunch, and supper. That means that we need a full weekly farm share to meet our needs. As my kids get older, I’m even considering getting a double share next year.

Now, I don’t expect that everyone will do the same. If you still plan to eat out occasionally, then I recommend requesting a small share or an every other week share. A biweekly share is also your best bet if you are cooking for just 1-2 people. 

Portion sizes should also be a consideration for other types of farm shares besides vegetables. Some meat shares give you a freezer full of meat all at once.

For example, we used to get a quarter or half a cow and a half a pig to stock up on meat for the entire year. Animal harvest is typically late fall.  Now there are more meat farms that are parceling out the goods on a monthly to every other month basis. This is a better option for those who don’t have a large freezer to store such big quantities. 

5. Organic vs. Non-Organic

If you were asking for advice on whether or not to buy organic produce at the grocery store, I would tell you to buy organic for most things. When produce is often coming from thousands of miles away or even other countries, you cannot be sure what has been sprayed on the food or how it was grown. Organic is a safer bet and is most of the time better for your health, the health of farm workers, and the environment.

However, with small farms that offer CSA, organic does not have to be among the criteria when you decide how to choose a CSA. Organic certification is an expensive endeavor, so even though many farms still use organic growing practices, they may not pursue certification. 

The great thing about CSA is that you have direct access to the farmers to ask them any questions you want about their growing practices. Sometimes you can even see them in action if you ask. 

So don’t let it deter you if every other criteria checks your boxes, but the farm isn’t certified organic. Instead, prior to signing up, contact the farm by phone or email and ask about their spraying practices. 

6. Customization

If you or some of your family members are picky eaters, you will want to be sure to find a farm that offers customization. This is a new way that farms are making their shares more convenient for their members. Instead of getting the standard share, which may contain produce that you are not familiar with or that you know you won’t eat, you can substitute with things you know you will use. This is also a great option for you control freaks out there (hey I’m not judging, in most areas of life this describes me)! 

On the other hand, you may like being flexible and the element of surprise. With a standard farm share you may get things you have never even heard of. I’ve been introduced to so many new foods this way. I’ve found that I really like fennel and I have tried new produce like Shiso (check out my Shiso tea recipe if you are interested). If you choose a standard CSA share instead of customizing, don’t worry – most farms will email you a list of what produce to expect a few days prior to the pick up date so that you can prepare. 

7. Cost

When weighing all of your criteria, cost may be a big factor for you. Some farms have you pay for the full season all in one payment or split it into 2 installations. Others allow you to pay by the month. Whichever way you choose, it is likely that you will be paying more up front than you are used to when you grocery shop weekly. However, particularly if you are buying organic, a farm share is usually cheaper in the long run.

The average cost of a 4 month weekly CSA share is $300-$500 or about $20-$35 per week. That is an awesome deal for a large amount of fresh, local, organic produce. Of course, if you opt for an every other week share, the price would be cut in half for each week. 

You will have to decide based on your food budget and how much you eat out if this is worth it to you. For me, it would cost my family of 5 at least $20 for just one meal at a fast food restaurant, so it is a no brainer to invest the same amount on my healthy produce for the entire week.  

8. Extras

When deciding on how to choose a CSA you may also want to consider the extras the farms offer. Here are a few examples:

Worker Shares: Does the farm allow you to volunteer to work on the farm for a few hours per week in exchange for a CSA box at no charge? My farm calls this a “dirty hands” share. What a great way to really get to know where your food comes from!

Environmentally Friendly: Does the farm allow you to bring your own bags when you pick up your share? The farms I have used in the past put the produce into reusable boxes that they keep and you transfer everything to your own bags when you pick it up. Exceptions would be spinach, green beans, and other things that cannot be easily contained. Some farms use paper bags and others use plastic bags for these things. If it is important to you, ask!

Farm Events: Does the farm offer special member events that allow you to see how they work? My farm invites members to come out and clean out the strawberry fields when it is nearing the end of strawberry season. They also have had an event where a local chef uses the farm produce to create a meal for members to share (this one did have an extra charge). 

Extra produce: Some farms will offer their excess produce several times throughout the season. This is usually something you would pay extra for. For example, if there is a large tomato harvest, you could be offered a 20 pound box of tomatoes for making sauce or canning. Corn and peppers are other popular offerings that can be frozen for use in the winter.   

How to Choose a CSA: Where to Find a Farm

Once you know what criteria you are looking for, you can start looking for a farm that is a good match for you. There are several tools to help you figure out how to choose a CSA. Here are a few that I like to use:

Fairshare CSA Coalition: This tool will walk you through several of the criteria listed above so you can narrow your search. Just be sure not to narrow it too much, especially if you don’t have a lot of farms in your area. You might miss out on something special!

Local Harvest: Lists farms strictly on how far they are from your home.  

USDA Local Food Directory: Lists farms strictly on how far they are from your home.

Now that you know exactly how to choose a CSA, it is time to take a leap and subscribe. If you don’t like the farm you picked, then the next season you can look for another. CSA is an adventure worth taking!

Looking for more information on local and seasonal eating? Check out these articles:

How to Eat the Seasons: A Complete Guide

6 Reasons to Eat Seasonally

Weekly Meal Plans (for recipes to cook with CSA produce)