What is the value of a CSA?

There is the economic value wrapped up in choosing to spend your money on a CSA share from Central Oregon. A 2017 study in Central Oregon found that for every dollar spent on a local food product, $0.76 stayed in the community. Comparatively, each dollar spent on food from outside the region resulted in only $0.28 remaining in the local economy. By choosing to nourish your family with Rainshadow vegetables and meats, you are supporting the local economy by keeping an additional $0.48 circulating through our local economy.

Then, there are the environmental values that Rainshadow supports with how we grow and utilize our farm land. Our regenerative and organic practices strive to give back more nutrients than we take from the soil through closed loop farming practices.  We leave much of the native ecosystems to do their own thing while removing non-native invasive species and providing watering holes and places of respite for the animals and birds of the area.

But, there are the family values wrapped up in the quality of food we grow. Of prime importance to you is how you feed yourself and the members of your home. With a Winter CSA from Rainshadow, you know that you are prioritizing the importance of feeding your family and yourself quality, nutrient dense food so you all are as strong and healthy as possible.

What about the social value of a CSA share – those standards we as a society set around what is acceptable and preferred. Your CSA investment ensures that we can pay our farmers an acceptable wage and keep teaching and inspiring the next generation of farmers through our Apprenticeship program. Purchasing a CSA also indicates that you are taking seriously a commitment to an ideal of community, one where the honesty of food and of local agriculture are primary.

And there is the emotional value of how being a shareholder in a CSA makes you feel. Proud that your money and eating choices are feeding the local economy instead of the larger global commodity market. Confident that you are making a well thought out decision that nourishes your heart, body, and soul. Satisfied that you know where your food comes from. Not just the location, but the farmer’s name who seeded, weeded, harvested, and delivered your food.

Finally, there is the dollars and cents value of a share. Take, for example our Winter CSA: for $225/month for 7 months you get 10 lbs of Rainshadow Organics meat and 1 crate of vegetables including greens and storage vegetables. That is the foundation that will feed a family of 4 for a month or go a long ways towards feeding a family of 2 in its entirety.

These are the values that Community Supported Agriculture encapsulates.

This is the “worth” of Community Supported Agriculture.

As I write this, the first large flock of geese are circling around the neighbor’s grain fields and pond gathering their numbers for their long flight ahead. This is a sure sign that winter is coming. Check out our Winter CSA and set yourself up for those colder and shorter days ahead.

Sarahlee’s grandmother has decided to sell the home place which is contiguous with Rainshadow Organics. We are looking for a buyer who would love to live next to an organic farm and enjoy all that it has to offer. More information can be found on Zillow. The address is 70955 NW Lower Bridge Way, Terrebonne OR 97760