The Story of Our CSA

 

 

I haven’t mentioned it, but about 6 months ago, we joined a local CSA (Community Supported Agriculture).  You can read about it here.  I think it’s great to eat organic, locally grown produce, but I also had several other goals in mind.  I wanted to try new foods (and learn to cook with them), learn about what grows best in this area, and get some ideas for when we start our own garden. 

So, before we signed up, we took a trip out to the “farm”.  We followed the map to a gravel road, which took us through an area of mobile homes, some fairly maintained, others with 4 or 5 mattresses stacked in the front yard and junk everywhere.  At the end of the dirt road was a rickety mobile home, sitting on a few acres.  At this point, Pete asked me if we should just turn around and we SERIOUSLY thought about it.  We agreed not to judge a book by it’s cover and thought it might be interesting to at least stop and talk to the guy.  We met the owner and his business manager who gave us a tour of the land.  It was a great place.  There were lots and lots of raised beds with all kinds of produce. The kids got to pet some baby goats and the owner told us about the other land they own nearby where the free range chickens and cows are kept.  We walked around, asked questions, and tasted some of the produce.  The owner grew up in a family of Tyson chicken farmers.  Interestingly, his family raised their personal chickens completely separate from the Tyson chickens since the Tyson standards were so low.  They wanted to raise healthier chickens for their own table.  Essentially, they were grossed out by the very stuff they produced.  Makes you want to run out and eat some chicken, doesn’t it! :-)  Watch Food, Inc. if you really want to be grossed out!

Ok, so back to the guy’s story……The owner spent years travelling to different parts of the world as a chef and he still has a catering business on the side.  He has been farming for many years.  Then there was a hard luck story….His first wife left him because he travelled so much.  He has 7 kids.  Yes, 7!  He moved from another state because his ex-wife was harassing him.  3 of the kids are with his ex-wife.  4 are with him and his current wife in the mobile home and are home schooled.  They all get up before dawn every day and help to work the “farm”.  This guy literally put EVERYTHING into the “farm”.  He has been growing for many years, but this is his first year in Texas so he explained that he wasn’t absolutely sure what the best crops would be during the summer. 

On the drive home, Pete and I discussed our visit.  Pete’s comment was “Wow, that guy’s got the entrepreneurial spirit, huh?”  We both agreed that he could be lacking a bit in business sense, but we figured that was why he had a business manager.  Anyway, we decided to sign up for the 2010 season, fully aware that this could be a bit risky.  If nothing else, it would be interesting to see what happened.

So…..fast forward about 5 months.  In the beginning, I picked up our produce at the “farm” weekly.  We got a good amount of field greens, arugula, spinach, collard greens, and some carrots and onions here and there.  Nothing spectacular, but it set me up with awesome salads for lunch each day.  Then, several months ago, the “farm” was vandalized.  Someone came in and ripped up the crops, tore apart the bed covers (tarps) and did some random other damage.  Then…..we came into the heat wave with something like 30 days over 100 degrees.

Here is where it gets good (or bad)……Week before last, I received an e-mail from someone I’ve never heard of discussing how upset they were with the CSA, saying that there has been a total lack of communication, and that we’ve gotten very little produce since the end of May.  They were planning to blast this guy on every website they could find.  The group of people copied on the e-mail all live in a subdivision in Dallas who happen to receive their delivery from the CSA on the same day I pick up each week.  So, somewhere along the way my e-mail was added to their list.  I was a fly on a wall watching about 30 e-mails fly back and forth.  It was escalating and people were becoming more and more upset.  They were threatening to sue him, saying that he had lied about the vandalism, and accused him of selling to a farmers market instead of fulfilling our contracts (they even named the farmers market).  They called him a crook and basically said that he had stolen their money.  One lady said that she didn’t understand why her friend who lives on the east coast has been getting stuff from her CSA all summer and we weren’t.   The CSA owner was intentionally copied on the very first e-mail, but others didn’t realize this as they were badmouthing him, so the owner was also reading the nasty string of e-mails.  He eventually sent an e-mail back saying that he was disappointed in the gossip that was going on.  He asked why no one spoke with him face to face during his deliveries or picked up the phone to call him.  He would have been happy to discuss the issues.  He said that he struggles to use the computer (which is apparent in his writing).

I couldn’t believe what I was reading.  It was like a bunch of high school kids gossiping.  The CSA owner was NOT selling to a farmers market.  That was completely bad information.  Only one of the people on the e-mail (out of about 20 people) had ever even visited the farm and they definitely weren’t stopping by every week to check things out.  Now, I’m getting emails saying that they have contacted the Dallas Observer to try to get them to do a story about how they’ve been taken by the CSA.  One email also listed every website that the CSA was linked to so that people could make sure to go to them and leave negative comments.

Yesterday, I stopped by the farm to pick up our weekly drop.  We got a honeydew melon, cucumbers, beets, and lots of arugula.  Good thing I like arugula.  :-)  I talked to the owner for quite a while.  He is remaining positive and is about to add beehives to his property, which sounds awesome.  Before all of this happened, he had already offered to extend all contracts for 2 months to make up for the delays and skipped weeks.  I feel bad because I really don’t think he understands the power of the internet.  This group of people could destroy this guy’s livelihood…..and that’s what they’re planning to do.   I will admit that the owner’s communication could’ve been better, but I don’t know how they expect him to grow like the east coast during 100 degree temperatures.  Also, since they doubted that the vandalism ever happened, they also aren’t allowing for replanting any of the crops that were pulled up.  It’s just sad.  They should do their research before signing up in the first place and stop blaming other people.  What a way to support local agriculture, huh?  Run the guy right out of business.  Some CSA’s even ask the members to come help out at the farm.  What would these people do then?  They’d have to step out from behind their computer and do some work face to face. 

I’m planning to go to the websites and follow the negative comments up with my explanation and some positive comments.  Sorry for the long post on such a random subject, but this kind of stuff just gets me riled up.  :-)  And now I will climb down from my soap box and go figure out how the heck to cook these beets!