Subject: DIRECT-MKT: Re: Farmers' Market-Based CSA? (fwd)

From: "Lawrence F. London, Jr." <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu, 6 Jun 1996 13:27:04 -0400 (EDT)

---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Thu, 6 Jun 1996 02:10:18 -0400
From: [email-masked]
To: [email-masked], [email-masked]
Subject: DIRECT-MKT: Re: Farmers' Market-Based CSA?

In a message dated 96-06-04 19:38:22 EDT, [email-masked] (Duncan L.
Hilchey) writes:

>Has anyone ever heard of a "farmers' market-based CSA?" I was just
>considering the possibility of combining these two marketing strategies in
>some way so that vendors and their farmers' markets could generate
>additional early season income, and shareholders could get greater variety
>than at more conventional CSAs.

Thanks for starting this thread, Duncan. I've been pondering something
similar, albeit through Farmer's Market Online with a broader defintion of
"community." The idea is to combine the products of a couple dozen vendors
into a package of produce and specialty goods that subscribers or
shareholders would receive on a seasonal basis throughout the year.

>For example, let's say 10 farmers' market vendors as a group (including
>bakers, food processors as well as growers), take on 50 shareholders at
>$500/share for the duration of the farmers' market (e.g., 25 weeks)...
. For their investment, the
>shareholders would receive a given share of the produce, bread, jams,
>sauces, etc. from the participating vendors.

I'd question how to sell this to shareholders. Conventional CSAs often
attract shareholders interested in supporting a particular farm or style of
farming. The products of 10 unrelated vendors would have to appeal to other
motives -- convenience, variety, etc.

> I see several problems (1) it's
>not really a CSA since there is a less direct connection between consumers

There are lots of ways to establish relationships between shareholders and
producers. At Farmer's Market Online, we're trying to encourage shoppers to
interact with producers via e-mail.

Michael Hofferber

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FARMER'S MARKET ONLINE
Box 277			     
Shoshone, ID 83352-0277	 
fax (208) 886-7602		 
e-mail [email-masked]
http://members.aol.com/marketfarm/farmers-market/
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