They may also have a voice in the farming practices used and the varieties selected. For some shareholders, belonging to a CSA is farming by proxy, the next best thing to growing it themselves. The cost seems larger when paying in one lump sum, and paying in advance for produce is a practice most consumers resist, which is why CSAs have not spread more quickly. What is feeding their growth these days is concern over food quality, a growing market for organic produce and the desire to have more control over one's food supply. Earnings are important, especially when you have your family's financial future riding on the performance of a particular stock or fund portfolio.
Food source is equally critical.
The food you buy and consume has both an immediate and long-term impact on physical performance and how you make the purchase, and who you buy from, helps shape the community in which you live. The best way to insure that you and your family are eating clean, healthy food is to know the people who do the growing, and how they are doing it. CSAs have brought over 100,000 US families into direct relationship with the over 1,000 local US farms who grow their food. People who care about their food, the environment, and their children, ought to take a close look at CSA and what it can do for them and the community where they live. The Agriculture Education Loan Forgiveness Program, a state program in Pennsylvania that allows college graduates with unpaid student loans to work off the debt with farm work, To be eligible for the program, a student must have earned a degree related to agriculture or veterinary medicine from a Pennsylvania school.