CSA's & Farm Viability
Subscription boxes are all the rage right now, from prepared meal services to monthly shipments of natural beauty products. With Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) boxes, you can get the same thrill. Farms fill boxes full of fresh fruits and vegetables that subscribers pick up on a weekly basis. CSA models accomplish many goals for the community food system: increasing access to fresh produce, improving the local economy, and reducing health care costs to the CSA subscribers. The farms also benefit from the income of subscription fees early in the season when costs are high. To better understand the impact on farm businesses, the Michigan Statewide CSA Working Group conducted a survey with the support of the Michigan Food and Farming Systems (MIFFS), and Michigan State Extension. Garrett Ziegler, Community Food Systems and Sustainable Tourism Educator at MSU Extension shared some of the results with Taste the Local Difference. So what did we learn? Ziegler states, “CSA Farms are as unique as ever in Michigan. CSA farmers are young, predominantly women, and well educated with most having 4 years or more college education with only 30% having degrees related to agriculture.”
Michigan CSA Farms facts
Michigan CSA family farms
have been around from
1 to 187 years, the average working
farm’s lifespan is
15.3 years 67%
of Michigan CSA Farms are new farmers (operating 10 years or less)
The average CSA farm size is
59 acres
with 56% of farms producing on 20 acres (or less ) each year These are considered small farms
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