(Posted 11-2-99)
IMMEDIATE RELEASE
News Service Contact: Deborah Durkee, 336-334-5371

UNCG ANTHROPOLOGIST SUGGESTS
ALTERNATIVE TO TOBACCO FARMING

By Deborah Durkee
 
GREENSBORO--It's not really a new idea, but "community supported agriculture" could be the wrinkle that helps keep North Carolina's family farms viable as the embattled tobacco industry raises questions about the future.

 Dr. Susan Andreatta, a cultural applied anthropologist at The University of North Carolina at Greensboro, has spent nearly two years looking at ways the family farm can remain afloat in North Carolina. Some of the recent developments, such as direct contract tobacco farming, might benefit the larger farms, but sink the smaller, low-volume operations.

Community supported agriculture--a kind of subscription-farming where consumers buy shares of a crop--is an idea whose time has come, Andreatta said. She and her student researchers will present a poster at the 14th Annual Sustainable Agriculture Conference on Nov. 12-14 at the Radisson Hotel in High Point to explain her findings. She also will speak on community supported agriculture and chair a session on culture, agriculture and land use at the American Anthropological Association Annual Meeting in Chicago on Nov. 19.

The idea of community supported agriculture (CSA) has been around for years, but has been resisted in North Carolina most likely because of the prevalence of tobacco farming, with its ties to the past and tradition of family involvement, Andreatta said.

Community supported agriculture is direct contracting between a farmer and a consumer. Growers actively work with their customers, and, unlike direct contracting with tobacco companies, which favors larger farms, this type of farming favors the smaller farm.

"It's linking consumers back to farmers," Andreatta said. "We keep promoting agriculture, and it seems to be tobacco, cotton and soy beans, but how many of us really use those products regularly?" What the average consumer would actually like, Andreatta said, is a tomato with taste.

How it works: The consumer invests in a family farm by paying directly to the grower at a critical time, such as in January, February and March. They become shareholders, sharing the risks and benefits of farming, and get quality produce in return.

"In effect what consumers end up doing is pre-paying for their produce," Andreatta said. "This does two things for the grower, it allows for the household to have an income coming in at a time when they don't have a harvest to sell, and this money is generally used to reinvest in the farm, to buy seeds, irrigation equipment, to get whatever they might need to help get the farm going."

"It works great for us because we get to know the people who buy from us," said Pat Bush, who, along with her husband Brian, plants part of their Reidsville farm as a CSA. "They like knowing where the produce comes from, and they like eating fresh food that is in season."

Consumer benefits beyond the weekly fresh quality produce include: seasonal variety, farm recipes and the knowledge and support of their local food source, Andreatta said.

For the past two years, Andreatta has  interviewed farmers, worked on their farms, and talked to CSA members about what they like and don't like. She has also used UNCG anthropology students as her eyes and ears on the farm when she can't be there.

Some of the problems she's found with CSA programs are that consumers have to change their "supermarket mentality" when it comes to produce. "They have to learn to eat in season and be creative with what they get," Andreatta said. "Sometimes they get eggplant for six consecutive weeks. So, you try to move away from the supermarket mentality where you can get broccoli and tomatoes in January. You learn to store turnips and potatoes, just like they used to do on the farm."

"This weekly produce is not enough to fill your freezer," Andreatta said. "It's fresh food that will last a family of four three to four days on a weekly basis."

Andreatta has found that growers who educate their shareholders, provide recipes and keep shareholders updated about the work on the farm tend to create a sense of community with their shareholders. This helps to reduce the number of growers and consumers who leave CSA programs.

Growers, used to planting only one crop, also have to change their thinking when it comes to CSA farming. "Some of the transition folks that have gone from tobacco and have started planting pumpkins or watermelons —  that's only seasonal," Andreatta said. "This one man grew five acres of green beans. How do you pick five acres of beans when you don't have a market for them?"

Pat Bush says those interested in CSA farming should plan their marketing first. "You have to rethink farming and work on the marketing end of it before planting," she said. "That's the biggest problem with farmers going from farming tobacco to CSA farming — they are used to planting entire acreage in tobacco and having a ready-made market. CSA farming is continuous, year-round."

CSA farmers must learn multi-cropping, growing a variety of crops concurrently. "With this kind of cropping, a family farm may have only one acre of food under cultivation," Andreatta said. "They can farm that themselves. They don't have to hire out labor. So, they stay small and keep the profits in house."

The Bushes feed 24 people off of an acre of land and make 1/4 of their income from the CSA. A number of growers, especially organic farmers, are trying to create new niche markets, being creative in what they grow. They've gone back to some heirloom varieties of crops, such as Cherokee purple tomatoes, which you'd never see in a traditional grocery store.

Some CSA farmers like to do their whole farm in a CSA. Others do limited CSA and sell the surplus at farmer's markets. Farmer's market attendance has been increasing in North Carolina.

According to managers from the Piedmont Triad Farmer's Market, the Market began with 40 farmers and now has 150 registered with slots for only 87. From May 1995, when the Market opened, until May 1996, total attendees were ½ million. From May 1997 through May 1998, the Market had over a million attendees.

Some CSA farmers have a natural sense for advertising. One of the growers brings bags of produce for his CSA members to the farmer's market. "People walk by and see all of these goodies in the bag from week to week, and the bags aren't for sale because they were pre-sold to CSA members," Andreatta said. He now has a long list of new CSA members for next year.

"I would like to think that we're broadening the definition of ‘community supported agriculture' to mean supporting our local farmers in general," Andreatta said. "The consumer makes a commitment to a grower, in a sense, sponsoring that farm."

For more information on community supported agriculture, contact Andreatta at 336-334- 5132 or the Carolina Farm Stewardship Association at 919-542-2402.

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