Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) is a partnership which requires the mutual commitment of a farm and a community of farmers. This commitment provides a direct link between the production and consumption of food.

A significant advantage for farmers and growers who participate in CSA's is that they receive a guaranteed market in which their produce will be purchased along with the advance knowledge of how much produce to grow.

Supporters of a farm financially cover the yearly operating budget by purchasing a share of the season's harvest. The farm's supporters, often referred to as members, support the farm throughout its growing and harvesting seasons and assume the costs, risks and bounty of growing food in cooperation with the farmer or grower.

The concept of community supported agriculture was developed in the early 1960's in both Japan and Europe. In Japan, women who were concerned about the large increase in food imports and the corresponding decrease in local agriculture, began a direct growing and purchasing relationship between themseves and local farmers. In Japanese, "teikei" means 'putting a farmer's face on food'. In Europe, similar community farming approaches proved successful and their concepts migrated to the United States.

The first CSA's in the US began in the mid-1980's when Switzerland native Jan Vander Tuin carried the concept across the seas. He partnered with a woman named Robyn Van En to develop an independent consumer support group called Mahawie Harvest. Most stateside CSA's are located near urban centers in New England, the mid-Atlantic states and the Great Lakes region but numbers all over the country are quickly rising with large increases on the West Coast.

CSA's focus on having enough funds in a pre-season budget for producing a specific array of products for a set number of weeks per year. These products can include, but are not limited to, vegetables, flowers, fruit, meat, honey, eggs and dairy products. 

Community Supported Agriculture connects local farmers with local consumers in a unique way. CSA's allow communinty members to honor and embrace the knowledge of local growers and producers while working hand-in-hand with them at their farms.