A Swipe for a Share
On Wednesday afternoons in front of The Happy Grape in Lexington, Ohio, you’ll find Joan Richmond at a table with certified organic produce harvested that morning at Meadow Rise Farm. The display of produce looks a lot like the farm’s setup for the Clintonville Farmers Market on Saturdays, but the Lexington farm stand functions like a community-supported agriculture (CSA) harvest subscription program for Richland County residents. As in a traditional CSA model, customers have made a payment in advance for Meadow Rise Farm’s produce.
As in a traditional CSA as well, Joan has designated a set time each week, Wednesday afternoons, for customers to pick up their “share.” Rather than picking up a bag or box that the farm has put together in advance, however, each customer can pick and choose exactly what they want from the produce that’s available. Extra kale isn’t a problem, and you can skip the eggplant entirely if that’s not your thing. The customer then swipes their pre-paid Farm Share Card, which they purchased from the farm earlier in the year, and the value of their selection is deducted from the card’s balance.
Joan describes the Farm Share Card program as a response to changes in consumer expectations and habits. People are busy, and at a time when anything (including packages of ready-to-prepare meals) can be delivered on demand, they gravitate toward what’s convenient. So as a producer with a business that is dependent on local buyers, Joan is hoping to meet customers where they are.
“People want to support local farms, they want organic, they want the food to be beautiful, but they want to choose,” she explains. Which led her to ask, “How can I make this more convenient, and how can I give people a choice?”
Joan thinks the Farm Share Card is showing promise. By asking customers to pre-pay for produce, like they would as part of a CSA membership, the farm can avoid going into debt at the beginning of the season. Joan set a minimum of $100 for initial Card purchases, which is significantly lower than the cost of a CSA membership, and she’s had more than double the number of members from last year’s traditional CSA.
Joan says she isn’t the only person thinking about the challenges she and other small farmers face in trying to build businesses that aren’t just sustainable environmentally, but also economically. She points to others in Ohio, like Great River Organics, who are exploring innovative ways to stay competitive. She says the truth is that it’s difficult economically to build a sustainable small business, particularly a small farm.
Small farmers rely on local customers and many farms also rely on the type of investment from the local community that the traditional CSA membership program has offered. For this reason, as small farms like Meadow Rise shift their practices to better serve their customers, there’s also an opportunity for customers to reaffirm their commitment to farmers—whether through a traditional CSA or a new program. As Joan points out about Meadow Rise customers: “If they weren’t willing to do this, I wouldn’t be here.”
The Farm Share Card gives Joan a way to stay involved with her local community, which she says she missed when she was only selling in Columbus. On Wednesdays when she sees the crowd that forms to pick out their shares of produce, she’s reminded that this is why she does what she does. She says it’s not just about growing vegetables, but about growing the community as well.
“It preserves that part that represents the ‘community’ in ‘communitysupported agriculture.’ I’m able to bring fresh, organic, locally grown produce to my community, and they enable me to farm.”
Meadow Rise Farm is located outside of Bellville, Ohio. Find them Saturday mornings at the Clintonville Farmers Market, through November 17. Learn more about the farm and the Farm Share Cards at facebook.com/meadowrisefarm/ and localharvest.org/meadow-rise-farm-M8651
