The acronym CSA stands for Community Supported Agriculture,
which translates into local farmers getting together to preserve the quality and integrity
of the food supply as well as the environment, while strengthening the local agricultural economy, according to
the CSA Minnesota site. In my
opinion, the recent deterioration of our food industry calls for a
sustainability revolution that must involve a commitment from public, private,
and government entities. We can no longer allow multinational conglamerates like
Con-Angra, Walmart, and Cargill to monopolize the food industry and eradicate our
local farms.
CSAs fulfill many roles. For example, the term sustainability refers to a method of harvesting that these
local farmers use which prevents the depletion of natural resources. Furthermore,
the use of harmful fertilizers and pesticides contribute to the deterioration
of the food supply and it is dangerous for human consumption. For these and
many other reasons, CSAs will only use organic methods in their agricultural approach
instead of chemically derived ones. Another
purpose of these CSAs is the presevation of local food diversity, also kown as slow food. To illustrate this point, hundreds
of years ago there were countless variaties of tomatoes. With the introduction
of food standarization, those numbers
have been greatly reduced and if we continue on the current path, complete the extinction
of many more variaties is in the horizon.
Community Supported Agriculture organizations offer the
oportunity to shorten the distance our food
travels“from farm to table”. There are many benefits to doing business
with and supporting the work of CSAs. From consuming healthier, more diverse,
better tasting foods, to helping preseve the local family farm, to sending a
message to the multinationals: stop
influencing government laws and in the process, wrecking our food supply
for profit!
Join the sustainability revolution!!
Check out the CSA Minnesota site.
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