WSJ visits the Brecht Forum, discovers THE Woman

Matthew Snyder matthew at pobox.com
Mon Jul 22 10:38:09 PDT 2002


Doug Henwood writes:
> And who knows what could happen if agro-science research were
> modified so that better taste and better treatment of workers and the
> earth were the goals, rather than maximizing sales and profits?

The growing community involved in the Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) movement are working on creating better treatment of workers through building a direct relationship between the consumer and the farm and its employees. Farmers are paid a living wage (although most CSA employees that I've known are single and live for free on the farm, usually by choice). Consumers are generally expected to visit and volunteer on the farm, alongside the farm workers, to experience and participate in the labor process.

Consumers pay upfront, at the beginning of the growing season, and receive one ``share'' of the harvested produce throughout the season, the size and make-up of which depend on the growing conditions, skill of the farmer, and economic resources available to the farmer. The price of the share is just the consumer's individual share of the farm's operating expenses.

http://www.macsac.org/csa.html#whatcsa

In my experience, food from CSAs generally does taste better. Much of the mediocre taste that produce can have stems from the fact that produce shipped long distances is picked before it is ripe and allowed to ``ripen on the way'' (which is generally B.S.).

-- Matthew Snyder Philadelphia, PA



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