Reflections on Value As We Celebrate the 30th Year of CSA at Harmony Valley Farm!

By Andrea Yoder

Strawberry Day 2011:  Farmer Richard in the field
discussing the details of farming with CSA kids

2022 will be our 30th year of CSA deliveries.  Folks, that is a reason to celebrate!  Over the course of the past 29 years we’ve watched young families join our CSA, raise their children on CSA vegetables and farm visits, send those kiddos off into the world with a value (and palate) for “real” food with connection to the place from which it came.  We’ve received reports from these families about how appalled these kids are when they get their first exposure to dorm food at college, “Can you believe they served me asparagus in September and didn’t even know where it came from!?”  Many of those kids have now grown into lovely adults with their own families, careers, contributions to society and their own CSA memberships.  

CSA Vegetable Shares
at a Pick Up Site

While times may have changed, the basic concept of CSA has not.  It continues to be a model that feeds and enriches communities, builds relationships and connection, and serves both farmers and eaters at a time when support and nutritious food is paramount.  There really is something to connecting members of a community to the agriculture that produces their food.  It was important 30 years ago and it’s important now.  In fact, it may be one of the most important contributors to our business that has allowed us to even reach this milestone!  Perhaps CSA could also stand for “Community Sustained Agriculture!”  So before we go any further, we want to say “Thank You” for coming along with us on this journey, whether you’ve been with us for 30 years, 3 years or you are looking forward to your first year with our farm in 2022.  This is not our accomplishment alone, it is a reflection of the strength of the CSA model and its ability to remain sustainable over time.  It’s evidence that changing “Me” to “We” makes a difference and is a key component to a sustainable, resilient food system that can withstand the test of time.

Packing CSA boxes in 2018

It’s no secret that the world around us is shifting and changing.  These changes are catalyzed by a variety of factors but the largest one being the global pandemic we’ve all been living with for nearly two years now.  I think for many people it’s been a time to pause and really think things through, to figure out the “whys” behind actions and decisions, to consider the pieces of life that one is grateful for and to imagine a better future.  When all the noise around us is tuned out, what really matters?  What are our core values?  What do we want to invest our time, money and energy in?  

The past two years have brought a lot of uncertainty for our society, and we too have faced that uncertainty at the beginning of the past two growing seasons.  With the onset of the pandemic, we didn’t know what was going to happen.  All of our plans for crops and markets were in place, but when the world shut down we didn’t know if we’d be able to grow, have employees, or even who we were growing for or if we’d even have any customers to feed!  We kept on going and, thankfully, there were many mouths to feed!  As our industrial food system began to fracture, the need for local producers rose to the forefront and our phone was literally ringing off the hook.  We kept moving forward, doing what we do best, growing food for our community.  Our mission didn’t change even if our policies and appearances did.  The basic human need to have access to food hasn’t changed, despite the changes in the world over the past 30 years.  

2021 Harmony Valley Farm Crew

But two years later, we still enter this year with a bit of uncertainty.  Our CSA membership more than doubled back in the Spring of 2020.  We were thankful to have a very high retention rate for 2021, allowing us to attain higher levels of efficiency, defer the costs of the overhead to operate a CSA program over more shares, and most importantly to have the opportunity to grow healthy food for the members of our community.  What will this year hold?  Will our members value their CSA shares as much this year as they did two years ago when the pandemic first started?  Are people tiring of cooking at home and ready to return to the convenience of prepared foods, eating out, etc?  Of course, we want every member to believe in CSA as much as we do!  We want CSA to impact every person and family in positive ways and for each person to realize CSA is so much more than just a box of food.     

CSA Box Contents, September 2018

My job is not to convince anyone of anything.  I’m simply here to lay it all out and bring attention to it.  I’ll leave it up to you to decide if and how CSA fits your personal values for this new year.  So on that note, there are two ways to approach the word “Value.”  As a verb, we can say, “The value of a Weekly CSA share is $1,110.”  In terms of dollars, that is what it will cost you to purchase 30 CSA boxes for 2022.  Is it really worth the expenditure?  Well, let me tell you what last year’s boxes looked like.   In 2021, the cost of a Weekly Vegetable share was $1,050.  Each year we have a CSA member who gathers price comparison data each week from a food coop as well as a natural foods grocer.  Last year’s price comparison data demonstrated that if the contents of the CSA share were purchased at either of these retail stores, an individual would have paid 27-43% more than our actual cost of the share.  That translates to $280-$450 more dollars of produce delivered than was actually paid for.  How is this possible or sustainable?  This is where it pays to go direct, which reduces the costs associated with distribution.  As a CSA member you also share in both the risks and the bounty of each and every growing season.  When we have a productive year, you benefit!  Even in a challenging year where we may have crop losses, members typically still receive a value of produce greater than what they paid for because we have flexibility with what we pack in the box.  We are able to cover the loss of one vegetable by packing something different that is available.  

CSA Box Contents, August 2021

But the conversation about value doesn’t just stop with the dollars conversation.  As a noun, the word “value” means “a person’s principles or standards of behavior;  one’s judgment of what is important in life.”  We always encourage CSA members to look beyond just the dollar value of the produce received, but this is where you have to reflect on what is important to you personally.  Here are a few points to consider.  First of all, based on last year’s boxes, a CSA member who received our weekly vegetable share received over 85 different vegetables!  That doesn’t even account for the fact that within some general selections, such as winter squash or head lettuce, we sent more than one variety.  We have heard from members over the years that they value the wide diversity of foods they eat simply because they show up in their CSA box, including things they would never have selected for themselves or thought they didn’t like. When it’s in their kitchen they are more likely to try it and sometimes even find they really like things they didn’t think they liked!  We also know that consuming a diet with a wide variety of plant foods is beneficial for your health and we’ve had members tell us they eat far more vegetables when they are participating in a CSA than they do when they make their own selections at a grocery store or farmers’ market.  

Wild Rice & Butternut Squash Salad 
with Tat Soi (November 2021)

Having a refrigerator full of vegetables doesn’t do you any good unless you eat them, which is why we also feel it’s important to provide support and resources for you with each week’s deliveries.  In 2021 we provided more than 54 recipes in our weekly newsletters over the course of the delivery season.  But we didn’t stop there!  Each week we provided additional links to even more recipe ideas on our blog with the weekly “Cooking With the Box” article.  On top of these resources, I also received calls and emails from members from time to time who had specific cooking or preparation questions and utilized the option to tap into my culinary expertise.  That’s right, you can pick up the phone and call me.  Ask me any question and I’ll do my best to answer you.  I have been cooking seasonally now for over 15 years and am a professionally trained chef.  I do my best to combine my culinary skills and insights with day-to-day practicality in the recipes and resources I provide.  Of course, you can also reach out to other CSA members too if you choose to be a member of our private Facebook Group created and facilitated solely for the purpose of sharing recipe ideas, asking questions and engaging in communication with other members!

While these are tangible resources that come along with each CSA share at no additional cost, there are some other less tangible benefits that add value to your experience with eating out of a CSA box.  Some of these values may not be as obvious to you until you spend a little time reflecting on your own experiences.  As you consider the value you get from your CSA experience, here are a few reflective questions you may ask yourself:

How has my health or the health of my family members changed since I/we started participating in a CSA?

How have my eating practices changed since starting to participate in a CSA?  Do I prepare more of my own meals and buy less prepared foods, take out, etc?  Have I incorporated more vegetables into my day, including even breakfast?  Do I enjoy eating my own food more than the prepared foods or restaurant meals I previously purchased?

Has participating in a CSA changed the way my family members interact?  Do we spend more time together preparing meals and/or eating together?  What benefits have my children received as a result of CSA?  Do they simply eat more vegetables now?  Are they more likely to try new foods and experience new flavors?  Have we been able to use CSA as a way to teach our children and each other about different cultures, different things in nature, seasonality, etc?

Do I appreciate the transparency of knowing where my food came from and who worked to grow it?

Lorenzo & Ascencion
Working in the Tomato Field

Is it important to me that the dollars I spend on food support a local economy?  

Is it important to me that the farm that produces my food also has extensive food safety practices to ensure my food is safe and wholesome to eat?

Do I value knowing that my farm invests in caring for the health of the soil and plants so the food I am eating is nutrient dense?

Do I want my food dollars to support a growing system that is safe and regenerative for the environment, promotes biodiversity and supports pollinating creatures?

How do I feel about the people who work to produce my food?  Do I care if they are treated fairly, paid fairly, have a safe working environment and are respected?

If CSA has been a valuable part of your life, we would love to hear your thoughts and experiences.  Your stories are our connection to you and they fuel our work on days that may be less than ideal and are what will keep us going for another 30 years!

If you’ve already signed up for your 2022 CSA share, thank you for your commitment!  We are grateful for the opportunity to grow for you this year and hope you’ll share your experiences with others in your circles who may be interested in participating in a CSA.  Every year we have some members who do not return, for a variety of reasons, but also welcome new members.  For our CSA program to continue into the future for another 30 years, we need to continue to maintain our membership.  Honestly, the most effective "advertising" we've observed over the years is simply when members share their experiences with others!

HVF Co-Owners:  Rafael, Richard & Andrea

If you are still considering whether or not you want to participate in our CSA this year, we hope you’ll weigh your options with a broad view and perhaps a bit of reflection about the value CSA can offer you beyond just the box of vegetables.  But rest assured, we have learned a few things over the past 29 years and we are pretty good at what we do!  With our experience to back us and the humility to know we'll never stop learning and improving, we'll do everything we can to make sure that box of vegetables will not disappoint!