This is Big River Farms' biggest CSA season yet! New this year, we've started using a CSA management program called Harvie. The new software allows us to offer fully custom CSA shares for the very first time. This means you can pick and choose which produce items you receive each week based on your individual preferences instead of receiving a predetermined box of veggies. While some members have supported us for many years, we also have many new members this season. Because of this, we've received a few questions about how CSAs work, and more specifically, how Big River Farms' CSA operates due to these new options.
The support we receive from you and other members is greatly appreciated! It provides both financial resources and a commitment to supporting local farmers, organic farming, and our education programs through thick and thin. With this financial support comes certain risks based on many factors. CSA members share in the bounty of good growing seasons and the leanness of poor growing seasons due to unexpected things like crop damage from pests or bad weather.
As an aggregated CSA program, we source produce from 10 different farm teams here at Big River Farms to fill your veggie shares each week. Harvest estimates happen a week in advance since our farm teams sell their organic produce to many other local markets, including wholesale accounts (schools, nonprofit organizations, community kitchens, etc.), food banks, and farmers markets. CSA harvests typically happen the day prior to deliveries being made.
The produce items listed in the weekly emails you receive and on your CSA labels are a best guest based on our harvest estimates. Oftentimes, we may be short or missing one or two produce items the day of packing CSA boxes because of unforeseen circumstances. It is not uncommon for substitutions to occur. When items are missing, we replace them with other available ones. We do our very best to fulfill each CSA order based on your preferences, our harvest estimates, and what is available. While we all share in these risks, we also share in the reward of amazingly fresh, nutritious food grown right here in Minnesota. Thanks for being a Big River Farms CSA member!
