Articles Home and Garden CSAs in Southeast Iowa, Apr 06
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What Are CSAs?Where You Can Find a CSA in Eastern IowaBY JOCELYN ENGMANDo you know where your food comes from? If the answer is yes, you’re in the minority—most Americans have no idea howor where their food is grown. Large industrial farms use mechanical- and chemical-intensive processes—neither of which is natural or optimal for the health of our soil—to mass produce our fruits and vegetables.The mass-produced produce is shipped all over the world, which means that the tomato or head of lettuce in your supermarket display could come from as far away as Mexico, or even China. If the produce is grown in the U.S.,it travels an average of 1,500 miles and spends an average of 10 to 14 days in transit and in the store before ending up on your plate. During tha ttime, nutrients and flavor are lost. Since the food is harvested miles and miles away from where it’s eaten, the varieties grown have to be hardy in order to survive the long trip, meaning that varieties with better flavor and nutrients are lost. For thousands of years, we were directly connected to the production of our food, first through gathering and later through agriculture. With the advent of modern agriculture, however, we have lost our direct connection to the growing process. Community shared agriculture, or CSA, is a rapidly expanding movement to reestablish the severed connection between grower and consumer. The CSA movement originated in Japan almost 30 years ago in response to concerns aboutthe quality of food produced by industrial agriculture. Its originators called CSA teikei, literally meaning “partnership” but philosophically meaning “food with the farmer’s face on it.” CSAs, sometimes called subscription farms, sell advance shares of their harvest directly to the consumer. For a set price, members receive weekly produce throughout the harvest season. The result is a direct connection to your farmer and healthier, fresher, better-tasting food for you. Every year the CSA movement grows in popularity. It came to the U.S. in 1986 when a CSA farm began in Massachusetts. Today there are more than 1,200 organizations in the U.S., some serving as many as 1,200 members. All provide an answer to consumers’ growing discontent with the current food system. FairfieldAbundance CSA
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