Off-Farm CSAs
Off-farm CSAs can be a flexible and creative way to reach new customers, but successful offfarm ventures require new outreach and communication strategies. There are three basic types of
off-farm CSAs.
1) Workplace CSAs in which you partner with a workplace (hospitals and colleges are
good first bets) to deliver directly to a workplace.
2) Community CSAs which can be delivered either at a farmers’ market or other
community location, like a senior center.
3) Neighborhood CSAs where you deliver (usually boxed shares) to one house in a given
neighborhood.
With off-farm CSAs you go to the customers where they work, shop or live.
PRO: This is a great way to grow your business and attract new customers.
CON: Off-farm participants may join because it is “convenient” and they like the idea, without
really knowing what they are getting into. Off-farm members often need more education about
eating seasonally, farming generally, and your farm.
Off-farm CSAs require you to deliver and often to manage the off-site distributions.
PRO: You don’t need to have an on-farm distribution shed, parking, bathrooms etc.
CON: You will need to account for the transportation costs of delivering food and of managing
an off-farm distribution.
Off-farm CSAs allow you to partner with workplaces, stores, or individuals.
PRO: Workplace, stores, or individuals can help manage your distribution and market your
shares. Off-farm partners can provide tables for setting up distributions, volunteers for managing
share distributions, storage of boxes etc. Partnerships also build community and can be a good
source of publicity for your business and local agriculture in general.
CON: When partnering with others, you may lose some control over the timing of outreach, the
exact location of distribution, or the person with whom most shareholders will interact with.
Sites may have protocols that can be complicated to navigate, such as security or solicitation
policies.
One Sugarloaf Street
South Deerfield, MA 01373
413-665-7100 Fax 413-665-7101
www.buylocalfood.com
Off-Farm CSA Best Practices
1. Communication. Because off-farm CSA shareholders they won’t be regularly coming to your
farm, they won’t have a very strong connection to you or the farm without good communication.
Also, off-farm shareholders are more likely to be new to seasonal eating and agriculture in
general in New England. The more you can tell them about what is in season, when they can
expect other crops, why or how crops are grown, the more understanding they will be.
 Newsletters. Write frequent newsletters (with pictures!) that give shareholders a
sense of what is happening on the farm, what is coming up in their next share, and
how to cook and store your product.
 Email reminders. Send them reminders about share pick-up.
 Meetings/farm tours. Pre and post season meetings give your shareholders a
chance to meet you, to learn more about what CSAs are like, and to provide feed
back. Farm tours or farm visit days are also a good way to reach out to
shareholders.
 Tip sheets and recipes. Like many shareholders, off-farm shareholders need
advice on preserving food, storing vegetables, and cooking new or unusual
vegetables. This info can be in your newsletter or in an introductory packet or
available at your website.
2. Distribution. Distributions are the best way for you to get to know your shareholders, so
make sure you put your best face forward.
 Location. Choose a place that is convenient for you and your truck, and for
shareholders.
 Time. The end of they day, towards the end of work is the best time for
distributions.
 Distribution managers. Volunteers or employees can be an affordable way to
manage distributions, but make sure they are personable and can represent your
farm they way you want them to. Partnering with youth leadership programs for
share management can also be a nice addition.
 Distribution style. You can choose a variety of distribution styles (mix and
match by weight or volume, share board, pre-boxed, etc.), just make sure you are
clear with your shareholders before they sign up so they know what to expect.
We find that pre-boxed shares or well-conceived mix and match distributions
work best.
 Variety. Make sure that you have a lot of the basic crops and supplement them
with some of the more unusual vegetables. You’d be surprised by what is “new”
to people who are new to CSAs or seasonal eating. Many off-farm shareholders
have never eaten eggplant before, never mind rutabaga, celeriac, etc!
One Sugarloaf Street
South Deerfield, MA 01373
413-665-7100 Fax 413-665-7101
www.buylocalfood.com