National Resources for Local Farms
CSA IDEAS LAB
Accelerating thought into action
A regular virtual discussion series focused exclusively on topics of interest to CSA farmers and farmer support providers
No events at the moment
PAST EVENTS
Watch recordings of our past CSA Ideas Lab sessions & Coffee Chat discussions
Click on a video title to jump to a specific event
2025:
​2024:
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Book Chat:The CSA Farmer's Role in the Future of Rural Communities 7.9.2024
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Keep on Cooking: Sustaining Momentum - Cooking With Our CSA, 6.28.2024
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So, You Joined a CSA! Now What? - Cooking With Our CSA, 6.14.2024
​2023:
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CSA Coffee Chat: Food as Medicine - CSA Partnerships 12.1.2023
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Farm-Driven Fundraising for Food Access Initiatives 10.12.2023
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Sliding Scale - Novel Payment Models to Support CSA Access 9.27.2023
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CSA Coffee Chat: Implementing Nutrition Incentives in CSA 8.10.2023
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CSA Coffee Chat: Health & Wellness CSA Voucher Program (Pt. 2) 6.12.2023
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CSA Coffee Chat: Health & Wellness CSA Voucher Program (Pt. 1) 5.22.2023
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Agritourism: How to Fully Utilize Your Land & Resources 4.11.2023
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Multi-Farm & Cooperative CSA Models 2.28.2023
​2022:
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Cultivating a Money Mindset 12.15.2022
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Focus on Farm Labor 10.11.2022
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Changes in CSA Consumer Preferences 8.30.2022
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Going Beyond Produce: Meat, Fish, Grain, & Flower CSAs 3.29.2022
​2021:
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Sure-fire Strategies to Promote CSA 2.2.2021
​2020:
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Virtual Engagement 10.29.2020
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CSA as a Vehicle for Food Access 9.24.2020
The power of cooperatives 3.11.2025
This CSA Ideas Lab covers a small slice of the recent history of farmer cooperatives in America and discusses how cooperative farm structures can integrate with CSA models.
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The United Nations declared 2025 as the "International Year of Cooperatives," highlighting the vital role cooperatives play in sustainable development with the theme "Cooperatives Build a Better World."
ONLINE SALES & MARKETING FOR CSA
10.30.2024
Are you hoping to improve your marketing techniques and see an increase in your online sales for your CSA business? Join CSA Innovation Network partners from Community Alliance with Family Farmers (CAFF) & Taste the Local Difference, along with guests from e-commerce support platforms Local Line & Farmhand to learn all the tricks of the trade when it comes to finding success with online sales & marketing for CSA.
CSA in NYC: A model for Greater Connection
09.24.2024
Farmers and community members in NYC have spent decades honing and evolving a model that allows farmers to more easily distribute shares and community members to create greater connection and accessibility.
Hear Cara from Farm Generations Cooperative / GrownBy and Jenn from East Williamsburg CSA discuss insights from surveying farmers and community members. We discuss how this model can (and should!) be adapted to support farmers and increase community engagement in other geographical areas.
COOKING WITH OUR CSA: LET'S COOK!
07.28.2024
This is the third and final video in our series with Cooking With Our CSA - helpful resources supporting CSA members' success! Share this with your CSA members to give them tips, tricks, and tools to make the most of their farm-fresh abundance.
In this session, CSA member and recipe creator Frances Kellar unpacks her weekly CSA box live and prepares a tasty seasonal recipe using a few of the ingredients from that same CSA box!
Book Chat: The CSA Farmer's Role in the Future of Rural Communities
07.09.2024
Farmer & author Jerry Apps joins the CSA Ideas Lab to share learnings from his new book, "On Farms and Rural Communities," with specific focus given to CSA farmers, CSA members, and anyone who strives to support local food and farming.
In "On Farms and Rural Communities", renowned rural historian Jerry Apps urges us to recognize the importance of rural farming communities and to build a new, stronger agriculture policy for our future.
LET'S KEEP ON COOKING! SUSTAINING MOMENTUM AS A CSA MEMBER
6.28.2024
Sometimes cooking with a CSA can mean eating a lot of the same ingredients over and over again. How can CSA members sustain momentum, keep on cooking, and feel the joyful energy of preparing seasonally based meals without burning out? In this session, food publisher and recipe creator behind Cooking with Our CSA, Frances Kellar, shares tips for ongoing success for CSA members.
So, You've joined a csa! Now what?
6.14.2024
You’ve signed up for your CSA & just brought your first box of the season home. Now what? How do we make sense of the ingredients to plan meals that reduce food waste & help us cook deliciously seasonal meals? In this session, food publisher and recipe creator behind Cooking with Our CSA, Frances Kellar, shares tips for success in starting out as a CSA member.
HOW TO OFFER CSA WITH ONLINE SNAP SUPPORT
05.21.2024
Local Food Marketplace now supports Online SNAP/EBT for qualified markets with an integrated checkout process, automated SNAP match support, guidance updating store settings and products to meet FNS requirements, and support through the approval process.
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in this Ideas Lab, we also hear from Rosebird Farms on how they updated their CSA program to accommodate online SNAP payments by setting up a farmers choice box set up that customers purchase every week.
CSA COFFEE CHAT:
CSA IN THE WORKPLACE
04.24.2024
This CSA Innovation Network Coffee Chat session highlights the newly-released CSA to University Toolkit and best practices for retaining members participating in employer-sponsored CSA programs.
Learn how to implement strategies from the CSA to University Toolkit to build successful workplace CSA programs at large institutions, recruit and retain non-traditional CSA shareholders coming from employers, and hear more about the challenges connecting to employees with (a) really high price sensitivity/affordability and (b) strong values of quality and sustainability.
Learnings from a U.S. CSA Roadtrip 3.11.2024
Learn about the state of CSA in the States, through interviews and visits with many CSA farms throughout the nation, collected on an extensive journey undertaken by an outside voice: Ed Hamer, of Chagford CSA in England & the UK CSA Network.
In the fall of 2023, Ed received funding to conduct a 10-week road-trip across the U.S. to visit CSA farms and evaluate the contrast in the growth and development of CSA here compared to the United Kingdom.
ACCEPTING SNAP ONLINE 2.20.2024
Direct-marketing farmers can now accept SNAP online with free support from Marketlink and GrownBy. In this CSA Ideas Lab, we were joined by Amy Crone from Marketlink, Mike Parker from GrownBy, and Annie Moore from River Queen Greens to discuss exciting new ways to expand food access by processing SNAP online.
CSA Coffee CHat:
Food is Medicine - CSA Partnerships 12.1.2023
This CSA Innovation Network coffee chat is all about the Farm to Family Program at Just Roots in Franklin County, Massachusetts. Joshua Faller, Food Access and Equity Program Manager, shares how the program started, how Just Roots forged partnerships with Accountable Care Organizations, and the nuts and bolts of this innovative Food is Medicine CSA program.
Farm-driven fundraising for food access initiatives 10.12.2023
Hear from Cassie Wyss of Crossroads Community Farm about raising funds through their membership to support local food access initiatives & building a stronger community around local food. Also, learn about the farm's work in collecting reparations for BIPOC farms, & supporting their area food pantries.
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This conversation was hosted by the CSA Innovation Network's Equity & Access Learning Community.
SLIDING SCALES - NOVEL PAYMENT MODELS to support csa access 9.27.2023
In this Ideas Lab, learn from three farms - Budding Moon Farm, Wonka's Harvest, and Zephyr Organics - on how they structure cost-share programs at the farm level & at organizational levels so that CSA shares can be made more affordable to potential members.
This conversation was hosted by the CSA Innovation Network's Equity & Access Learning Community.
CSA Coffee Chat: Implementing Nutrition Incentive Programming in csa 8.10.2023
Check out this Coffee Chat where we share various approaches to how CSA farms can implement nutrition incentive programs. Learn the key steps involved in setting up a successful program as a vendor, where to look for partnerships to strengthen your connections, and what assistance is available to you. Featured speakers are from City Fresh, Produce Perks Midwest, Glynwood, the Pacific Northwest CSA Coalition, & FairShare CSA Coalition. View resources that were shared here.
CSA Coffee Chat: Health & wellness CSA Voucher Program (pt. 2) 6.12.2023
This Coffee Chat covered the University of Kentucky’s (UK) Health and Wellness CSA Voucher Program featuring Jody Ensman, Director of UK Health and Wellness and Vanessa Oliver, Registered Dietician at UK Health and Wellness. Jody and Vanessa shared their experience piloting, growing and managing the CSA Wellness program, including administrative considerations, coordination with other university wellness programs and nutritional education, and their partnership with the Kentucky Farm Share Coalition.
Finding Success with Customizable CSA Shares 5.23.2023
Incorporating more choice into your CSA isn't always easy, but here we'll learn from two farms - Fiddlehead Farm and Barr Farms - about their approaches to finding success while offering their members customizable options. Plus, get a peek into Local Food Marketplace as one software solution for offering customized shares.
CSA Coffee Chat: Health & wellness CSA Voucher Program (pt. 1) 5.22.2023
This Coffee Chat covered the University of Kentucky’s (UK) Health and Wellness CSA Voucher Program featuring Richard Amos, Chief Benefits Officer at UK. Richard shared considerations that went into the decision to fund UK's CSA Voucher program, including how the program fits into the larger objectives of a good benefits package; how it advances UK’s goals for employee Health and Wellness; and its overall “value on investment."
aGRITOURISM: HOW TO FULLY UTILIZE YOUR LAND & RESOURCES 4.11.2023
Agritourism is a way to bring more customer engagement & revenue to your CSA, & there are many ways to approach it. Listen to Fresh of Fresher Together, Nichki of Letterbox Farm, & Devon of Sunlight Gardens share their stories of creative land & resource usage that they take on in addition to running their farm. Going beyond just CSA member events, agritourism programs open up additional ways for people to visit your farm, have fun, & draw in more interaction from your greater community.
Multi-farm & cooperative csa models 2.28.2023
Learn about how two multi-farm CSA operations got to where they are today in this engaging discussion. Speakers Ashley C. Smith from Black Soil KY in Kentucky & Charrisha Hillery from the Fresno Farm Box in California will share their experiences & guide our conversation on what cooperative, aggregated, multi-farm CSA programs can look like. Check out the resources shared in the video description!
Cultivating a money mindset 12.15.2022
Annie Salafsky, founder & former co-owner of Helsing Junction Farms CSA for nearly three decades, shares her experience & expertise around building a financially successful CSA business. In this engaging conversation, Annie speaks directly to challenges faced, while giving sound advice on how to make CSA work for you.
FOCUS ON FARM LABOR 10.11.2022
Hear from two experts on farm labor: Sarah Janes Ugoretz, of FairShare CSA Coalition, & Liz Henderson, of NOFA & URGENCI. Learn about farmers' labor challenges, bringing farm employee perspectives into the picture, & more.
CHANGES IN CSA CONSUMER PREFERENCES 8.30.2022
UC-Davis professor Ryan Galt chats about changes in CSA consumer preferences. Learn about the changing landscape of consumer choices, external factors driving differences in CSA sales, & how CSA member preferences & buying patterns have evolved over time.
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Dive into Ryan's research: "The (un)making of “CSA people”: Member retention and the customization paradox in Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) in California."
digital promotion & engagement for csa farmers 6.29.2022
Hear from two experts in the world of online selling and promotion for farmers, and learn more about engaging with your customers in the digital space. Speakers Nina Galle, head of content at Local Line, and Kendall Ballantine, farmer and business owner at Marketing for Farmers, share tips and best practices for reaching, engaging with, and selling to CSA customers in digital spaces.
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going beyond produce: meat, fish, grain, & flower csas 3.29.2022
Hear a variety of CSA providers share about their successes in non-produce markets. Learn about meat shares at Skyview Acres, Citizen Salmon Alaska's CSF (Community Supported Fishery), flower bouquet subscriptions from Marilla Field & Flora, and Meadowlark Organic's grain shares.
setting up for success: CSA week 2.1.2022
Join the CSA Innovation Network in a brainstorming session as we explore tips and tricks for using CSA Week to drive signups, increase member engagement, and celebrate the CSA movement across the country!
ENGAGING EMPLOYER ORGANIZATIONS IN CSA 10.14.2021
The KY Farm Share Coalition, FairShare CSA Coalition, Hearty Roots Community Farm, and researchers discuss experiences facilitating different types of workplace CSA programs. In particular, this webinar will identify successful strategies and potential pitfalls when engaging employers.
Moving from Food Access to Food Justice 8.19.2021
Join the Network’s Equity & Access Working Group as we explore the history of the CSA model in the United States, consider today's challenges to advancing equity in CSA, and identify future opportunities to build a more equitable food system.
Retaining CSA Members During & After the Pandemic 3.23.2021
In this Ideas Lab Webinar, you will get to see a short video screening and facilitated discussion on CSA member retention. We'll use our collective learned experiences from the past year to share strategies to maintain long-time CSA membership.
Strategies to promote CSA 2.2.2021
In this webinar, Corinna Bench, Founder of MyDigitalFarmer.com and Tricia Phelps, CEO of Taste the Local Difference will guide you through best strategies to build an online presence, hook your audience, and help them sign up for your CSA.
Farmer to Farmer ECOMMERCE exchange 11.17.2020
This webinar will take a deep dive into some of the most popular software platforms for farm-specific sales, based on 2020 national farmer-survey findings. Our featured speaker is Claire Strader, Organic Vegetable Educator of Dane County Extension & FairShare CSA Coalition. Claire will present on general eCommerce platforms as well as farm-specific software for CSA and direct sales!
VIRTUAL ENGAGEMENT 10.29.2020
This webinar focuses on how CSA farmers and farmer support organizations are producing new & engaging virtual experiences and learning a lot in the process. Come learn as we discuss the most successful, challenging, and innovative aspects of virtual CSA fairs, farmer field days, fundraising events and farmer-led CSA member events! Speakers include Katie Harvey, Elizabeth Corio, Briana Alfaro, and Lauren Rudersdorf.
CSA as a Vehicle for Food Access 9.24.2020
This webinar explores the basic principles of food access and features CSA farmers and support organizations that have developed best practices to connect the CSA model to a broader, more inclusive audience. Speakers include Garrett Ziegler from Michigan State University Extension & West Michigan Growers Group, Mike Edwardson of Plainsong Farm (MI), Liv Froehlich from FairShare CSA Coalition (WI), and Linda Davies of Winter Green Farm (OR).
IMPLEMENTING INCREDIBLE EARLY BIRD SIGN-UPS 8.26.2020
Join Corinna Bench of MyDigitalFarmer.com and Tessa DeMaster of Willowhaven Farm to learn best practices around how to build a strong early bird CSA sign-up campaign. Corinna will share her inspiring story and include recommendations on how to set up a marketing campaign that will get current CSA customers to make a financial commitment to the farm far in advance.