Just found myself soabboxing on Chuck Wendig’s blog about supporting small farms and CSA. Thought it might as well be here.

I haven’t actually done CSA personally yet, mostly because of circumstance. However, I can attest personally to how valuable it is to small farmers. Because it’s supporting them directly, the whimsy of the market is circumvented. That means that taxation, subsidies (a wholly fucked system), middlemen, and in short, The Man can’t fuck with what they’re getting from you. Also, The Man can’t fuck with what you’re getting from them If you taste chemicals in your cabbage, you can talk to the person who grew it.

The other reason I really stand behind CSA is a more ephemeral one, but it’s one I think someone needs to speak on. Maybe this is too ‘hippy shit’ and all, but shit, times are fucking tough for small farms nowadays. I know this too keenly because it’s an issue my family is facing right now, though going organic did help a bit. I keep thinking that people supporting initiatives like CSA, people going out to *meet* farmers and say hullo to them, people actually connecting to the folk who grow their food can only help our culture get a bit healthier in the way it thinks about food. On an immediate level, it makes the people who are sinking every speck of sweat and money and hope effort they have into keeping the farm going feel just a bit more supported and valued, and that’s important. I think that’s really, really important.

…actually, maybe this should have been a blog post instead of some soapboxing on your blog. Sorry, Chuck.