Growing numbers of shoppers "are skipping out on grocery stores and even farmers markets and instead going right to the source by buying shares of farms," reports Susan Saulny in the New York Times (7/10/08). In Chicago, for instance, Erehwon Farm has attracted about 150 shareholders, who "have open access to the land and a guaranteed percentage of the season's harvest of fruit and vegetables that range from about $300 to $900." On Long Island, N.Y., the Golden Earthworm Organic Farm has grown "from 10 members in 2000 to about 1,300 this year." In Wisconsin, the Cattleana Ranch has 55 members paying $714 for a "meat membership."

Most of the farms are in New York, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and California. Members typically are motivated both by a desire "to buy and spend locally" and perhaps eat more "organic" food. Some shareholders see their memberships as a bargain, while others view it as a luxury. Either way, some farmers see the shareholders, and the concept (commonly called Community-Supported Agriculture, or C.S.A.) as their salvation. "The C.S.A. provides a base that's certain, and we get the money when we need to spend the money," explains Beth Propst of Erehwon Farm. She means that Erehwon gets the money before the growing season starts, and the funding is not contingent on the success of their growing season.

Shareholders are welcome to get their hands dirty, but that's not required. However, Erehwon's Tim Fuller makes it clear that those who decide to join in on the farming should be prepared to work. "There's always pressure on ... This is a complicated business, growing so many crops," he says. That's fine by Steve Trisko, an Erehwon shareholder: "It's very hard for them to make ends meet ... so I decided to go out and help. We harvest, water, pull weeds, whatever they need doing." The C.S.A. idea actually got its start in "Europe and Asia in the 1980s," finding its way to the U.S. in the early 1990s, with fewer than 100 farms here. That number has "grown to close to 1,500" in recent years. ~ Tim Manners, editor