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Genesee Valley Organic Community Supported Agriculture |
by Elizabeth Henderson
One of the great strengths of the GVOCSA is the participation of all members in our project. Other farmers have trouble believing us when we tell them about all that we do together. Some of the benefits to Peacework Organic Farm are measurable, such as the number of hours members do work on the farm and distribution. Other benefits are less quantifiable, though no less valuable - lively company, friendships, moral support, the chance to help teach children about the earth and good food. From the beginning, the farmers and the Core, with suggestions from all members, have constantly adjusted and fine tuned the way the CSA runs so that we spread the work as broadly as possible and do not overburden anyone. A small contribution from many people can keep the load lighter for those who take on more responsibility. The farmers and the Core would like to ask you to consider making your commitment and signing up for next year as early as possible. Here's why:
The cooperative agreement between Peacework Organic Farm and the GVOCSA goes back 13 years. There is no written contract. The relationship is based on trust and mutual respect. The farmers and the members have agreed to share the risk of farming and some of the farm work to ensure that at least one local farm does not become another digit in the depressing statistics on the loss of small family farms since the 1950's. In 1989, the founding group decided to keep the price of shares as low as we could by asking that every member participate in farm work and distribution, and that administration be divided between the farmers and the volunteer members of the Core. In the early days, CSA shares amounted to no more than 5% of the food raised on the farm. As the organizational capacity of the CSA has grown and the number of share increased, it has reached about 95% of the farm's market. (We sell the small excess, when any occurs, to a few stores, including Abundance Coop.) All these years, the only participants who have been paid, and modestly at that, have been the farmers. The Core has gradually pushed the price of shares up in an attempt to provide us a decent living.
The realities of the food system, however, exert a strong downward pressure on what even the most aware people are willing to pay for CSA shares. The US government has a firm policy of cheap food. No one in the leadership in this country - politicians of either major party, bankers, academics, policy wonks - has even suggested considering paying a living wage to the people who plant, pick, wash, pack, deliver, stock shelves or serve food. Like it or not, the GVOCSA is in competition with food that is picked by migrant farm workers who, at best, receive minimum wage, and with large corporate farms that are able to avoid paying the full costs of water, transportation, and pollution of soil, air and water. The huge government bail-outs of agriculture - billions of dollars a year - do not go to small family farms. The government does not extend its handouts to farms like Peacework.
As returning members of the GVOCSA may recall from the March newsletter, the 2001 budget allows a total of $64,200 for personnel expenses:
Greg and Ammie - $23,200 (based on $10 an hour for 2320 hours)
Elizabeth - $20,000 (based on $11 an hour)
health insurance for farmers - $5,700
a pension fund for farmers - $3000 (new this year)
two interns - $10,500
The farmers' work amounts to a total of approximately 4138 hours. In reality, the farmers put in more like 5000 which means an hourly wage of $8.60, and the interns are exchanging some of their time for the learning experience. If the CSA paid the farmers and interns the full cost of their labor plus reasonable benefits, the personnel total would be more like $96,600 a year.
CSA members, through farm work, distribution, transporting food from the farm, and core administration work contribute approximately 3000 hours to this cooperative food enterprise. If the farm had to hire people to do this work, that would add another $30,000 or so a year to the cost of the project, thus almost doubling the price of the shares.
Peacework projected production expenses for 2001 total $17,475, or about 1/5 of the farm budget. On many farms, production expenses range from 25% to 75% of the budget. In this respect, Peacework is a very efficient unit. We have kept expenses down by building an energy-efficient greenhouse and mixing our own potting soil, by purchasing seed from FEDCO (a worker owned cooperative), by using cover crops and compost to increase fertility instead of more expensive fertilizers, by doing as many repairs as we can ourselves, and by staying out of debt. Renting land, equipment and buildings from the Kraais has also helped us avoid borrowing money. While we do pay them for the use of their property, what we pay has no relation to the true value of unpolluted land, clean water, and their trust and friendship.
Farming without borrowing money is perhaps the most radical thing about Peacework. Most of the money and some of the equipment to capitalize the farm came from what I had invested in Rose Valley Farm, which I left in 1997. My possession of that money dates back to the insurance settlement after my husband was killed in a car accident in 1972. When Greg and I were in the process of starting Peacework, we made up a budget covering construction and equipment we would need, and presented it to the members of the GVOCSA Core. I told them that we were short $5000, and asked whether they thought we should raise that money by selling CSA shares a few years in advance, or by asking members to lend us the money through Equity Trust. Within two weeks, before we could even make a decision, we received anonymous donations to the farm capital fund of $6000. Since then, members have contributed an additional $4000 to capital expenses. I cannot express to you how much we appreciate that generosity and the confidence in our farming it bespeaks.
For Greg, Ammie and myself, farming is a lifestyle choice. We are not in it for the money. We need to spend more money than we would prefer because we have mortgages to pay off on our homes. A large portion of the food we eat comes from the farm. We can and freeze and store food away for the winter. Greg and Ammie cut the wood to heat their home. I drive a 1974 car; the farm uses my 1984 truck. Greg commutes to work at the farm in a truck only one year younger. Having the farm free of debt and knowing that there is a community of people who support what we are doing relieves us of a lot of worry and stress.
There is a small thing that each member could do that would further reduce the stress on the farmers and the Core. Throughout the winter and especially as we get to spring, the Core and the farmers put in a lot of time recruiting new members and reminding old ones to sign up again. If as many members as possible could make a commitment to the CSA by the end of the fall, that would go a long way toward alleviating that stress. If you want to keep the CSA in your life for another year, sign up early. When you wait till the last moment in late April or early May, you increase the work for the farmers, the schedulers, the treasurers and the outreach committee. We try to respond cheerfully, but those extra phone calls add up. If you could decide about rejoining in November, we would know exactly how many members to recruit, and we could put our volunteer energies into designing a more streamlined sign up system for returning members. Please keep in mind that the GVOCSA runs on the voluntary contributions of time, money and energy of all of us. It is not a service organization or a paid service: it is our shared adventure in sustainable living.
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