Open season

Community Supported Agriculture—known as CSAs, in which residents can purchase produce directly from local farms—is back for the winter season. A CSA is a subscription service for produce, and while CSAs are popular during the summer because of foods like tomatoes and avocados, several regional farms will have CSAs during the winter season offering fall and winter foods. Farms with CSAs include GirlFarm/Grow for Me Sustainable Farm, the River School Farm, and Nevada City-based farm Mountain Bounty, which delivers to the Reno-Tahoe area, according to Edible Reno-Tahoe editor Amanda Burden. Local food project NevadaGrown has a list of farms with subscription services on its website at http://nevadagrown.com/subscription-farm-list/.

University of Wisconsin, Madison’s Center for Integrated Agricultural Systems researched the benefits of CSAs for communities, stating “CSA members directly influence their food supply and contribute to the local economy. With a CSA membership, people are not just buying produce: they’re making a commitment to support a farm, farmer, and farm family. Members assume a portion of the risk of farming: in good years, there will be bounty, and in poor years, smaller harvests.”