Consumers vote with their dollars at every purchase. Pullman-Moscow consumers have shown their support for local produce growers by the increasing popularity of CSAs (community supported agriculture). Consumers partner with growers by providing money at the beginning of the season (when growers need it to get started) and then receiving produce in return all season long.
The WSU organic farm currently has 100 CSA members and a waiting list. Member boxes are delivered at the Moscow Food Co-op growers’ market on Tuesdays.
Half-shares cost $325 and full shares $525. Farm manager Brad Jaeckel will accept more customers for the waiting list; contact him by e-mail at jaeckel@wsu.edu.
Due to growing popularity, several other CSA alternatives have sprouted. Here are some examples of area CSAs that will provide locally produced fresh organic food for the 2007 season:
• Bunzel Organics is seeking a few CSA members. Participants will receive a box of produce distributed each Tuesday at the co-op growers market. The season will be May 8-Oct. 23. A list of produce expected to be grown by month is available. The cost will be $80/month. For more information, contact Ken or Betta at 208-285-3656 or kbunzel@genesee-id.com.
• The Soil Stewards (a UI student organization focusing on sustainable agriculture) has a waiting list for its 15-week season (July through October). Participants pick up their boxes on the UI campus.
Shares sell for $225 (two-person size) or $300 (family size) and there is a work-for-shares option. For more information, call 885-7499.
• MaryJanesFarm offers a u-pick membership organization called MaryJanesFarm Country Club. This unique CSA provides members with access to the greenhouses, fields, orchard and chicken coop at the farm, located 8 miles southeast of Moscow, which is the home of organic pioneer MaryJane Butters.
Members are invited to visit the farm during daylight hours, any day of the week, to pick their own produce once they’ve attended a training session at the farm. They are welcome to bring visitors and relax at the farm with a picnic lunch, a snooze in the hammock or a visit with the farm animals.
Members pay an annual fee of $100 and pay for what they pick at a self-serve station at the farm. For more information, call 208-882-6819 or go to www.maryjanesfarm.org.
• Elizabeth Taylor of rural St. Maries (about 50 miles north of Moscow) has been selling her organic vegetables at Moscow’s Saturday farmer’s market and at the co-op for many years, and this year she is working to set up a CSA program. Participants would pick up their boxes at the farmer’s market from June through October.
She has not yet established a cost. Contact her by mail at 34713 Highway 6, St. Maries, Idaho 83861.
• Affinity Farms of Moscow has a popular CSA program that is no longer accepting names to the waiting list.
