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Re: CSA and food stamps



Hi there CSAers-

>>
>>The problem is that CSA is on a "share" basis.  That there is no
>>"guarantee" that Jane or Joe Consumer will actually get produce.  
>(The
>>scenario being that what happens if Jane Consumer pays her CSA share 
>in
>>food stamps and then the farm is wiped out by a hurricane and she 
>gets
>>no produce.)
>>
>>This "risk" is something that prevents FNS from saying outright that
>>CSAs can take food stamps.  (We can have emails back and forth for 
>sure
>>saying that CSAs are low-risk, no-risk....) The key in approaching 
>FNS
>>would probably be having a clause in the agreement with the
>>consumer/shareholder that guarantees food stamp users that they will
>>receive a certain minimum quantity of produce.  I think that with a
>>little creative work, the risk issue could be eliminated.  But 
>certainly
>>special shareholder agreements might have to be written for food 
>stamp
>>recipients.
I have seen CSAs that guarantee all recipients a relative return on their
investment.  One such CSA statement read that all members would receive
at least $500 in organic produce.  thus, if a catastrophe wiped out the
fams crop, they would use shareholders money to purchase organic produce
for the shareholders.  Some kind of statement like this ought to work for
any CSA that wants to take on food stamp recipients.

>>
>>My personal concern is that from the producer side, many food stamp
>>recipients won't be able to put all the share money upfront, which 
>is
>>one of the strong points of the CSA.  Where is the security for the
>>producer?   If a food stamp recipient is paying them month to month 
>and
>>then decides to drop out, the producer ends up having to scramble to
>>find somone else to take the share?   
I also know of CSAs, primarily in California, that allow people to pay on
a month to month, quarter to quarter, or year to year basis.  People can
drop out at any time, but if they do not give prior notice the farm
retains a two-week deposit to cover the transition to bringing someone
else in for that share.  The farms I am familiar with that run their CSA
operation in this way offer year-round CSA and also use other marketing
methods, from farmers markets to restaurants, coops to wholesale.  Thus,
the loss of a member is not a big deal as there are other outlets for
this excess produce.  All of these farms are larger CSA operations,
having from 60 - 360 weekly shares.

But the idea of an additional deposit might make a regular share payment,
especially in special circumstances, a reasonable alternative to a
upfront payment scheme.  

Just my $.02

shalom michael

Michael Isensee  *  316 E. 7th St. #28  *  Vancouver, WA 98660

It is foolish to complain about big government if we do not do everything
we can 
to support strong local communities and strong community economies.  
Wendell Berry, Another Turn of the Crank

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