Farmers' Market(ing)

One of the things I do when I'm not running Another Limited Rebellion (the design studio AND blog) is help coordinate SPROUT a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) Group that I founded. SPROUT provides organizational, administrative, and marketing services to small organic farms and/or gardens that are interested in starting a CSA, but either don’Äôt have the time or resources to do so themselves.

Community Supported Agriculture is a form of mutual partnership between farmers and consumers. Rather than go through several layers of middle people, consumers make a commitment to directly support an individual farm by providing money (and sometimes labor) for their yearly operating budget. In exchange they receive a dividend of the freshest produce possible. Each supporter buys a ’Äúshare’Äù of the farm (not unlike a share of stock) and takes on some of the risks and benefits of growing food along with the farmer. CSA’Äôs are a unique way for people to have a better knowledge of the food they put in their bodies and the process, people & land it takes to produce it.

This season SPROUT is partnering with Victory Farms, Inc., a small family run farm, which relocated from Phoenix, Arizona to Hanover, VA.

You can out more about CSA's via the Robyn VanEn Center at Wilson College, find a CSA in your area at Local Harvest, or if you're in the vicinity of Richmond, VA please consider joining SPROUT this season, an application can be downloaded here (PDF).