I prefer the farmers market because I like to choose specifically what exactly I want. The CSA chooses what to deliver and you take what you get. In short the farmers market is probably better for those who may be picky, choosy, and have time to visit them. The CSA would be a better choice for those are aren't so picky about what they receive and have less time to visit the market.

We did the CSA thing for one year but stopped for several reasons:

1. It's a lot of money up front.
2. I still had to go to the market for fruit, since the CSA was for vegetables only.
3. Having to pick up on a certain day in a certain time period wasn't always convenient.
4. We received vegetables that I either didn't like or didn't know how to prepare. As the mother of a then-young child, I didn't want to spend the time finding recipes.
5. The CSA was farther from my house and from my office than several local farmers' markets.

While I appreciate the concept of the CSA and ensuring the farmers that they will have a steady income stream for the year, it just wasn't for me. I do have friends who absolutely love their CSA memberships, though.

On weekends. I'm not much of a morning person. Farmer's Markets don't seem to accommodate the late-rising weekend loungers, so for me, it's CSA all the way!

The CSA through One Straw Farm has been wonderful for my family. There are several location pick ups, including an option to pick up at the Farmer's Market. The cost is minimal if paid early and for a family of 4 comes out to around $20 per week. The benefits are an abundance of fresh organic vegetables that are in season and ready to eat! I am signing up again this season for sure. Recipes can be found on the One Straw website if you happen to find youself with an interesting veggie. We are 100% CSA all the way!

A lot of people love CSAs, but I too think the model needs some tweaking to work for more people. Everything Mar said is correct. The farm really hypes the idea of "seasonal", but I think the reality is more complicated. When spring peas were in season, I got 3 kinds of chard. When green beans were in season, more chard. I used to like chard, but I now have an aversion to it, thanks to my CSA. Perhaps certain crops are cheaper and easier to produce organically or perhaps the better stuff was sold at the markets and we got the leftovers. I don't know, but I was extremely disappointed in the variety.

I love the idea of a CSA, but found that the reality didn't really live up to my ideas. I tried a CSA for two years, was satisfied enough the first year to sign up for a second with the same farm, but was very disappointed the second year. I picked up at a market that allowed me a choice of which items to take, but the available selection was disappointingly limited the second year. I had a half share, which meant 4 items instead of 8, and I often wondered what on earth the people with a full share got, because there were so few choices. As it was, I got sick to death of the same things over and over again. (I often looked longingly at the broader selection of some other, non-CSA farms that sell produce at the same place.)

I didn't sign up last summer but noticed while shopping at my pick-up place that the farm's selection was similarly small last year. The farm I used has been supplying lots of local restaurants, and I don’t know whether they’ve changed their farm to larger plots of the few most popular items or whether the restaurants are getting all the variety, or what. But either way, I won't be doing it again.

Seek to educate, not just be exclusive. Remember you are The Baltimore Sun. That suggests that you should be writing for all the area residents. If you are seeking exclusivity perhaps you should create your own blog and link it to the Sun. But currently you are paid, receive benefits and featured through The Sun. Many of its residents do not understand a lot about food, where it comes from or how effects them, their health and environment. Many of them live if food deserts out of choice and sorely in needs education.

Quite frankly we don't need you to champion the cause of the already conscious food shopper. You and this paper are needed elsewhere.

You say you do not preach, but you don't take advantage of the position you are in to improve. You have a rare position, do something with it.

My family split a CSA share for the first time this past summer. While I love the concept of the CSA, the reality did not work for my family. The set amount of veggies was either too much (a pint of jalapeno peppers, 4 bunches of chard) or not enough (1 small butternut squash, 3 small cucumbers). And I also found myself going to the farmer's market anyway to purchase fruit and other veggies. This summer I will be supporting local farmers by purchasing at the markets and not through CSA.

Farmers' markets are for the casual browsing type, drifters with baby carriages, etc.
go CSAs!!!

This will be my third year getting CSA. I don't always like the selections---I have more use for the occasional 3 bunches of chard than any quantity of peppers every week. But it is efficient, so one unwanted item out of 8 is a small thing.

We tried a CSA two years ago. I liked being introduced to new veggies that I had never tried (I now LOVE turnips) but I didn't like that we seemed to get second quality veggies with the best stuff being saved for the farm's Farmer's Market. We, too, had an overdose of some mystery greens and bunches of herbs, and I found myself shopping elsewhere for 'basics' like tomatoes all summer anyway. Now we live about a mile from a farm stand that is available every day spring, summer and fall - and there is a cash box honor system to choose your own veggies by the piece. That's the way to go for us!

Timmy, I think farmers' markets are really more for people who know exactly what they want based on their tastes and menu plans while the CSA supporters tend to be more willing to try something different and adjust their menus to match what they get rather than getting what they need for the menu. To each his own and hopefully we all eat a variety of veggies and fruits grown locally.

This year i will probably do both. I am happy to use whatever I get from the CSA but there are somethings that I love that I will go and buy (rhubarb, for example) and I usually buy milk and eggs there as well.
Plus, the farmer's market is a huge social outlet and a lot of fun.

Err, and what is that Dunn guy on about?

I'm a CSA farmer and from my perspective we shouldn't choose between the two. We need to support both CSA's, truly local producers at farmer's markets, and restaurants that prepare local foods. We need farms to survive and we want fresh food. Many people are discovering that the establishment of a local food system is a necessity but farmers are still barely making it. Many would like to transition to CSA style operations but are afraid to take that next leap because they know how finicky people can be and don't want to have to explain a difficult season directly to people. Having said that, there shouldn't be anyone selling corn through a CSA in March (not a CSA not local) or just giving people chard every week and selling everything else to a farmer's market. On our CSA we only do CSA in order to avoid that conflict of interest but many farms don't have enough local support to do only CSA, or they really like aspects of the farmer's market. However most I know would rather spend their time farming than marketing if they really could.

We have done--and will continue to do--it all: purchase CSAs, shop multiple farmers markets, grow our own, encourage large food distributors to support local sources, support established organic groceries large and small. I agree with Brian Hughes: it's not an either-or but a multiplicity of choices that can serve multiple audiences, who bring diverse histories to shopping, cooking, and eating. It takes a long time for people (so used to shopping at big box stores) to adapt to seasonality, encourage entrepreneurship, see their roles as partners to the small producer, and basically to learn to cook and eat more consciously.

South Mountain Veggies is the best of both worlds -- it's a CSA, but you pay each week. The Friday before, they send a menu - you can scale your order up to a larger size, especially if there's something unique that only the bigger orders get (they have S/M/L) or be "away" that week if there is nothing you want. Plus there are add-ons, both fruit and veg. And they deliver to your doorstep.