Fall 1993 (v5n5)
	From the Director Is The Answer Close to Home? The trend toward direct marketing of produce is a way for consumers to personally connect with farmers and get the best fruits and vegetables available. At the increasing number of farmers markets all over the state, this appears to be a very positive interaction-somewhat different from the rural/urban conflict that is apparent in many parts of California. At farmers markets, growers get first-hand reactions to what they produce, which is a helpful "reality check" about what their end-users like or dislike. Farmers can also pocket some of the marketing money, which they don't usually see. For consumers, buying produce grown and picked close to home at the time it is ready to eat rather than ready to ship means fruits and vegetables that taste the way they should. Consumers learn that the best fruits and vegetables to buy are the ones that are in season, a lesson that helps both them and the farmers. The consumers get the freshest, best produce and the farmers don't have to worry about picking immature fruits and vegetables and shipping them long distances. Another marketing strategy that seems to be catching on fairly rapidly is ''community supported agriculture" (CSA) or subscription farming. In this venture, a group of people in a local area and a farmer agree on the fruits and vegetables they want to buy and produce. The farmer grows it for the local consumers and delivers it to them weekly as it is harvested. In most cases people put money up front to help with the cash flow on the farm. In other cases they may also provide labor to help with the harvesting. CSAs bring the producers and consumers into much closer contact; those who don't farm begin to understand the concept of the seasonality of fresh food and some of the problems of producing it. These trends suggest that people do want "real" food. UC SAREP will be sponsoring a meeting on the development of CSAs at UC Davis on December 6 (see this page.) The answer to the question of getting seasonal produce to consumers when it is at the peak of taste may be closer to home than we think.-Bill Liebhardt, director, University of California Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education Program.   [ Back | Search | Feedback ]