The wife and I are researching the feasibility of becoming a Community Supported Agriculture farm operation. After reviewing some of the above, why in the world would we want to pursue such an undertaking? By now, you may understand what's in it for the consumer, but what's in it for the farmer? Some of the positives run parallel to the negatives. The main reason for becoming a Community Supported Agricultural farm is that we think we would enjoy growing food, and a diversity of it, a whole lot more than we'd enjoy concentrating on planting the whole place in grains and being done with it. We're in the process of learning the fine art of raising vegetables and are trying to prove to ourselves that we can do it with consistency.
Second, reducing our reliance on outside food sources gives us peace of mind. All these food recalls and reports about food contaminants have us scared. Realistically, even though our bureaucracy tries to achieve proper food inspection, it isn't possible. The volume of food processing is, simply, too great. The inspector can't place a 55-gallon drum of ground meat under his thumb and follow it from the grinding machine to my kitchen table. It can't be done. For our own safety and for the safety of our family and friends, we feel we must try to localize our food consumption.
Third on the list is good taste and nutrition. Simply, organic food tastes better and, while we have no first hand, side by side, laboratory comparisons, we're convinced that the fresher our food is, the more nutrition it's bound to contain.
Forth, we only have 28 acres and only 18 of that is under till. Anyone who plants grains will tell you that isn't nearly enough ground for grain farming. You can't raise enough to get your machinery paid off. It's not nearly enough for long-term, large-scale production of livestock, either. Our only option is to think outside the box, as they say. We've got to find an alternative. We've got to find a "niche" market. We believe that market may be catering to folks who, like ourselves, desire better tasting, more nutritious,locally grown foodstuffs.
Finally, we have a vision, call it a "romantic ideal" of what a farm should be. We can tell you what it shouldn't be. It shouldn't be row after row shiny, steel sided buildings full of imprisoned livestock, living their short lives under artificial lighting, never knowing the feel of grass under their feet, the freshly scented air in their nostrils, the cool breeze in their face, the warmth of the sun or the cooling rain against their skin. That is an unnatural life and is an insult to all animal life on this planet. Maybe not everyone agrees with the vegetarians, who consider it inhumane to kill animals for human consumption, but everyone should, certainly, consider it inhumane to raise them in a fully enclosed, imprisoned environment.