Farm Economy

Farm Economy


During the early Spring of 2008, the ground in Central New York had just thawed enough to let farmer Daren Maum, owner of Salvere Farm, begin to till his fields. Salvere Farms is unique among CNY agriculture, because before he plants a single seed, Maum has already sold his entire harvest. It is called consumer supported agriculture, or CSA.

Each season Maum sells shares, or percentages, of his crops that he delivers weekly to his customers at three pickup locations around the area. By staying small and selling directly to the consumers, Maum manages to stand out in another way: he cuts costs of fuel for running the farm and making deliveries. His customers also get away without a grocery store?s markup. All this meant that in Spring 2008, Salvere farm was one of the only farms in the area to not be raising their prices.