Why Join Prairie Drifter Farm CSA?
- Incorporate more fresh, delicious produce in your diet
- Expand your ability to bake and cook with fresh ingredients at home
- Connect to the people who grow your food
- Support farmers who want to support you back, who want you to enjoy your CSA experience, who understand your joys and challenges
- Connect more deeply to a life-giving food system
- Establish healthy eating habits with your family
- Add creativity to your kitchen and dining room table
- Support the local economy
- Support healthy soils and landscapes
- Spend time on a farm landscape
- Eat with the seasons
- Be part of and connected to a larger community
Is CSA right for me?
Being part of a CSA farm is not a fit for every family. These are some things to consider before joining. Feel free to reach out to us by phone or email if you have more questions or need more information.
- Do you enjoy fresh veggies or want more in your life? Becoming a CSA member means you have access to a great diversity of fresh veggies that taste great and benefit your physical and mental health. True confession, before farming, Nick and Joan did not eat a lot of vegetables. Through farming, we have discovered a love for vegetables and each year, eat more fresh produce than the year before. Our kids are having a fundamentally different eating experience than we did growing up and we are grateful for that opportunity as parents. Food truly is medicine.
- Do you enjoy trying new things? We grow a lot of very familiar vegetables but also grow some veggies that you wouldn’t necessarily pick up at the grocery store. Over the years, many CSA members comment on how being part of our CSA has opened their eyes to new foods and has fundamentally changed the way they eat, not only during the 18-week season, but beyond.
- Do you enjoy cooking already or want to cook/prepare more fresh food for yourself and family? Just like anything, learning how to prepare fresh veggies takes time and practice. We enjoy eating great food and want to raise our kids with this joy as well. Often people think you need to have fancy recipes to use fresh food. Fancy recipes can be fun when you have the time and the gumption, but the beauty of fresh food is that sometimes the simplest preparations are the best.
- Are you interested in being connected with the folks who grow your food? This connection is truly the main reason we grow food through a CSA membership model. We have a desire to know our customers and hope you can connect back with us. We directly purchase a great amount of food from our local farmers as well, and when that food is on our plates at the dinner table, we give thanks to those farmers and know that this connection directly supports our local community members.
What our members have said . . .
“We never get over how cool it is that we have you guys as a part of our community and get to experience the joys of a weekly CSA box. We are both from more urban backgrounds, and we miss some parts of that lifestyle, but living in such close quarters with our food is a pretty amazing benefit to living here. My kids are having a totally different “food experience” than I did growing up. We personally know you guys and so many of the other wonderful people who produce the food we eat. Our kids associate food with small farm pick ups. A year into being the main cook in my family had me wanting to throw in the towel. Now I am enjoying cooking more than ever and part of that is due to the challenge and fun that comes in that CSA box.”
“The CSA is amazing and I recommend it to SO many people. My kids are exposed to different kinds of fruits and veggies and we’re all healthier because we let “the box” guide our cooking every week. I’m so thankful that my family has access to this amazing resource. Thank you for farming the way you do!”
What is Community Supported Agriculture (CSA)?
The Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) model allows you, the share member, to know where your food comes from and how it is raised, while helping to support a growing network of small, diverse family farms. In Community Supported Agriculture, it is important to know that CSA share members share in some of the risks of farming. In a great year, members reap the benefits of a bounteous season with plentiful share boxes. In a difficult year or in the case of a challenging weather event, there may be less produce in the share boxes. Some of the risks that come with the business of farming are hail, high winds, insects, intense heat or cold, excessive rain, drought and of course the unpredictables that come with working with the land. That being said, we take our job as food growers seriously and with pride, and we do our best to mitigate these risks in any way we can. There is limited space available this season, so reserve your shares early.
First and foremost, we strive to provide you with fresh produce that looks great and tastes delicious. We raise our produce organically and are certified through Midwest Organic Services Association (MOSA). We prewash your produce and most of your produce is harvested fresh on the day we deliver to you. Beyond raising healthy and delicious food, it is also important to us to create a diverse and healthy landscape on our farm. We continually work to build healthy soil and vibrant habitats throughout our farm using sound stewardship practices. This model of farming is important to us because of our desire and ability to be part of the local community and stewards to the land.
What are the roots of CSA?
The concept of CSA has a variety of origins, from the biodynamic community led by Rudolf Steiner in Europe to a group of women in Japan concerned about pesticides, processed foods, and the decrease in the farm population. They used the idea of “teikei” or “partnership” as a way to connect growers to eaters. This concept of a direct farmer to consumer partnership is steeped in black history in the United States. The idea of Clientele Membership Clubs were championed by Booker T. Whatley, an agriculture professor at Tuskegee University. He was an advocate for regenerative and sustainable agriculture and thought farmers could best succeed with a direct relationship with their customers. We have many pioneers before us to thank for cultivating this concept, so important to building our communities and a more just food system.
