Here in one of world’s most productive agricultural belts, we have lots of potential for community-supported agriculture—or CSAs—in which consumers connect directly with local farmers by subscribing to weekly boxes of fresh farm goods.
While many small-scale CSAs still operate in the San Joaquin Valley, some of the more prominent ones have been forced to shut down—including Fresno-based OOOOBY, a long-time service with thousands of subscribers that closed its doors very suddenly in November.
To better understand the challenges of operating local CSAs, FM89’s Kerry Klein sat down with organic farmers David Obermiller of Fresno and Vernon Peterson of Kingsburg, as well as Ryan Galt, a professor of human ecology at UC Davis. Obermiller runs Harvest Fields Organic CSA out of Fresno, which is currently on hiatus while moving to a new property. Peterson opened the interview by explaining why his former CSA, Abundant Harvest Organics, had to fold in 2018 after 10 years of operation.
