Buena Vista hosts CSA Conference

By: Sterling Quinton

The 20th century advent of industrialized agriculture, commonly known as the Green Revolution, did not bode well for localized farming or those practicing its art. From an apex of 6.8 million practitioners in 1935, which accounted for one third of the jobs in America, small-scale farmers became such a diminished minority that by 1993 the United States Census Bureau announced that it would "no longer count the number of Americans who live on farms."

With nearly a decade of the 21st century behind us, that historical trend is changing in a big way. According to a recent New York Times article, between 2005 and 2007, small scale farmers increased by almost 90,000 individuals. Buena Vista has shared in some of that growth and now, via locally based Weathervane Farm and the Dairy at Cottonwood Creek, has hosted a Community Supported Agriculture conference.

Guidestone was a major organizer of the event. Another organizer is the Central Colorado Food Shed Alliance or CCFA. The CCFA bills itself as a locally based organization working to revitalize the valley’s food industry. As a coop organization, it is responsible for running the Farmers’ Market in Salida and, according to one board member, it hopes to bring another market to Buena Vista in the near future.

Despite a rapid national and local growth of CSA, its exact purpose remains obscure or unknown to many. According to Seth Roberts, co-owner of Weathervane, the CSA model was created to, “Develop a direct connection between producer and consumer through a contractual basis. It really started with vegetable farmers providing seasonal produce to their membership. It has grown now to encompass many different agricultural products.” Essentially, CSA is a model wherein the consumer has a personal relationship with the people growing the food.

On a seasonably cold but sunny February 15, twenty-two attendees from the south central part of the state gathered around the crusty earth of Weathervane’s winter-dormant gardens to make connections, drink coffee, and talk about the future of CSA and other forms of local food production.

Roberts, said the goal of the conference, “Is to get people together who are currently operating a CSA or want to, and to discuss challenges, opportunities, the future of the movement, and to prepare for a state-wide gathering in 2010.”

One farmer in attendance, Jerome Osentowski, traveled from Basalt, Colorado, to revel in the exchange of ideas and participate in the shaping of the future of CSA. Osentowski, a bespectacled 64 year old with slight build and academic air, is the owner of a CSA school.

“We started a 20 member CSA with 20 students and 10 farms involved and we are closing in on a permanent sight to house the school,” he said.

About why he felt the CSA model is important, Osentowski stated that, “The industrial system is a failed system. It’s crumbling. The manufactured food system is toxic. In all of our communities we only have two days supply of food. Any town in Colorado, especially in the winter, is susceptible.”

His claims demand attention but don’t be too quick to label him just another pessimist. Osentowski has put positive energy into creating a counterbalance to what he sees as a real problem in modern food production. “This is a way of building in food security,” he said. “With green houses and high tunnels we can become year round producers of our own food.”

In addition to his tools for season extension, like the greenhouse, Osentowski has surrounded his home with acreage of Permaculture. He says Permaculture is, “a designed system for development of sustainable permanent agriculture and other perennial systems.”

Others define it as a smart way to produce a lot of food without a lot of continuous labor. Besides the more typical fruits and vegetables, Osentowski’s approach has allowed him to grow relatively exotic foods like bananas, artichokes, passion fruit, pineapple, figs, guavas, and jujubes at his mountainous site.

Of course, food can be produced and a living made without building an off-the-grid Permaculture camp in the mountains or developing a CSA. According to the CCFA, which serves a “foodshed” encompassing a 100 mile radius emanating from Salida, Chaffee County and the surrounding areas have a lot of food producers growing and distributing their products in a variety of ways.

Some of those producers include: Javernick Family Farms, Landmark Beef, Simple Honey, TBD Farm and Cherry Orchard, Black Mountain Mushrooms, Haugen’s Mountain Grown Lamb, Gosar Ranch, Erin’s Organics, Green Earth Farm, and Jumpin’ Good Goat Dairy. To see a fuller list of local vendors, readers can visit www.ccfa.coop.

Back at the conference, attendees took a tour of Weathervane and The Dairy, swapped solutions for common problems, discussed current and impending legal issues, as well as the difficulties and triumphs of competing in the bigger markets. In the late afternoon current farmers, people wishing to be farmers, and others who came simply because they support local food production, shook hands and said goodbye hoping to meet again at the 2010 sate-wide conference. As Osentowski prepared to leave, he reflected on the day’s conference and the future of his work, saying, “I think CSA is the most viable model out there and it continues to grow.”