New CSA sprouts in High Country

By Scott Nicholson

Local growers are teaming up to share the bounty with local consumers in a broad-based community-

supported agriculture program.

The High Country CSA was formed through a grant from the N.C. Rural Center and involves local farms, letting people buy shares in this year’s crops and receiving weekly rations fresh from the garden.

The CSA grew out of educational efforts by the non-profit Maverick Farms in Valle Crucis, originally designed as a program to encourage people to become farmers. Franya Hutchins, High Country CSA coordinator, said the goal changed due to both the challenges of securing agricultural land and the successes already experienced by local CSA efforts.

Hutchins said Maverick Farms has an educational aspect important to the organization, and part of its mission is expanding regional agriculture as a viable part of the economy on both the production and consumption ends.

Maverick Farms was developing a program to nurture young farmers, and in researching the proposal, they found that there were many obstacles for young people entering the field. Maverick Farms revised its grant applications to expand the community-supported agriculture program, forming alliances with New River Organic Growers and Appalachian State University’s field laboratory for its sustainable agriculture program.

“They are all certified organic producers,” Hutchins said. “We’re inviting all of Maverick Farms CSAs to participate and we’re aiming for 50 participants this year. We hope to double that next year.”

Maverick Farms already had 25 clients for its CSA program and a waiting list beyond its capacity to produce.

“That told us the High Country was really ready for CSAs to expand,” Hutchins said.

A single-farm CSA will sell shares at the beginning of the year to help subsidize production for the year and spread the risk. The grower then commits to supplying a certain number of goods and produce during the growing season.

The grower benefits by getting up-front money for seeds and supplies at a time of year when little revenue is coming in, as well as having a guaranteed market for produce.

The consumer can rely on fresh, in-season crops on a regular basis and have the satisfaction of directly contributing to the local economy, as well as getting a chance to work in the garden a little.

“It really brings a community aspect to the food system that is completely lacking right now,” Hutchins said.

“The consumer doesn’t have that much of a risk in buying a share, and the farmer knows money will be there even if restaurants don’t buy their goods. The point of the CSA is that they all share the risk, and the advantage of a large, multi-farm CSA is that a lot of options are available.”

Consumers generally get four to 10 pounds per week as part of their CSA share, designed to feed a family of four.

There will be fruit shares if the blossoms survive the late frosts, flower shares for a Mason jar of flowers every week, meat and egg sales, and garden-crop shares.

Customers get 20 weeks of goods, beginning the first Tuesday in June. They also have a chance to get some fresh air and sunshine, especially if they don’t have gardens of their own.

“We do ask participants to get out on the farms and work a couple of hours and meet local farmers,” Hutchins said. “Part of the project is to get people out there and see how agriculture works and get the community to interact with the farmers.”

Since the High Country CSA received an N.C. Rural Center grant this year, all share money will go to the participating growers, since overhead is funded by the Rural Center grant.

Hutchins said the expectation is that the program will begin funding itself as early as next year, with produce value approximating that of the local farmers’ market. “To me, it’s a big contribution to the local economy,” Hutchins said.

CSAs have the side benefit of preserving agricultural land, which is rapidly being lost to development. North Carolina has lost more than a third of its farmland since 1964, with the state losing food dollars as people buy more imported produce.

It also has the potential to create jobs, with delivery, marketing and advertising needed in addition to farm labor.

Currently, the High Country CSA has 14 area farms participating, and a waiting list is already forming for next year. However, there are still openings for customers who want to participate and buy shares.

For more information, contact Maverick Farms at highcountrycsa@gmail.com or (828) 963-4656.