Cromwell Valley Community Supported Agriculture is working to offer residents fruits and vegetables ? and keep themselves in business.
Located in Towson as part of Cromwell Valley Park, the farm consists of several fields, a barn and a greenhouse that serves as a local provider of fresh fruits and vegetables. With a lack of fresh-produce stands along Intestates 95 or 83, many residents look for an alternative to grocery stores.
Working as part of the Community Supported Agriculture program, community members pay a fee to the farm to be supplied with fresh produce.
“CSAs do benefit both the community and the farmer,” said Dave Martin, the county extension director for the Baltimore County Office of the University of Maryland Cooperative Extension. “It makes a good business model and it fits in for producers in a metro area where there are plenty of people to support it.”
Community Supported Agriculture is endorsed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Under the basic plan, the USDA states, “a grower could maintain small farm profits by selling low cost memberships to customers, who then were allowed to harvest crops at below-market prices.”
Typically, farms charge locals about $500 a year to be supplied with a weekly box full of produce over a set period of time, usually six months.
For the farms, receiving payment up front is important. By getting the cash early, it allows farmers and workers to have the resources to purchase important items such as tools, fertilizer and other necessities to plant and harvest the crops.
“My ultimate goal is that I would love to make a career as a farmer,” said Nick Reed, who works and lives at Cromwell with his wife and daughter. “But in all reality, it isn?t economically feasible to start off by myself because land and equipment is so expensive. The reason we are successful here is because we can lease the land cheap and the Community Supported Agriculture literally supports us.”
More information
» The University of Maryland Cooperative Extension lists nearly 40 farms or growers as CSAs in the state. For a list of locations and where to contact them, go to www.marylandagriculture.info, and click on Markets, and then Community Supported Agriculture.
