Community Supported Agriculture 

Thank you for your interest in East Brook Community Farm’s 2022 CSA! Our CSA members are the foundation of our farm. Member support ensures our viability from season to season, and creates lasting relationships that strengthen our community. In return, we provide our members with weekly or every-other-week shares of abundant vegetables, herbs, and flowers, which we grow with practices that go beyond organic standards. 

​

CSA membership also comes with the benefit of being in community with your farmers! We will host potlucks, tours, workshops and other events on the farm for our CSA members that you will be welcome to attend. Please let us know what you are interested in participating in, and we will see what we can set up!

 

Our CSA is based on a sliding scale. When signing up for the CSA, each member must select:

​

1. Their sliding scale tier

2. Their pickup location

3. Their type of share

 

Please read on below to see options for each!

Our CSA is based on a sliding scale - please read on to determine your appropriate price!

 

A sliding scale is a payment model that asks CSA members to pay a price for their share that reflects their access to resources. Those who can are asked to pay a bit more for their share, so that members with fewer financial resources can pay a price that is more within their means. It's a form of mutual support between CSA members and farmers to ensure that affordable, fresh, and nourishing food is accessible to everyone in our community!

We ask each CSA member to reflect on their access to financial resources to determine which of the following price tiers is appropriate for them. We provide some resources below to help guide CSA members toward their appropriate location on the sliding scale, but ultimately, each CSA member determines what price they are wholeheartedly willing and able to pay.

 

Any CSA member who is unsure what to pay, or who would prefer not to participate in our sliding scale is invited to pay the market rate of $30/week. If you have any questions about our sliding scale not answered on the website, you may email us!

​

Our sliding scale is outlined in the table below. If you need additional guidance in finding your appropriate location on the sliding scale, we suggest referring to these living wage calculations from MIT.

If you would like to contribute more than $40/week, or if $20/week is still not accessible to you, please contact us, and we will be happy to work with you!

​

However, income alone does not completely reflect one’s financial status. Please also consider the following when deciding what you will pay on the sliding scale.

​

Consider paying a bit more for your share if you:

 

• own the home you live in

• own a second home

• have investments, retirement accounts, or inherited money

• travel recreationally

• have access to family money and resources in times of need

• work part time by choice

• have a relatively high degree of earning power due to level of education (or gender and racial privilege, class background, etc.) even if you are not currently exercising it

 

Consider paying a bit less for your share if you:

 

• are supporting children or have other dependents

• have significant debt

• have medical expenses not covered by insurance

• receive public assistance (such as SNAP, TANF or medicaid)

• have immigration-related expenses

• are an elder with limited financial support

• are an unpaid community organizer

​

Once you have determined the appropriate rate to pay for your CSA on our sliding scale, continue scrolling down to choose the pickup location and season for your share!

​

This sliding scale is intended to be a guide and it invites each of us to take inventory of our financial resources and a deeper look at the privileges we carry. Please use the above guidelines when determining the appropriate price to pay for your share, but in the end, pay what you are wholeheartedly willing and able to pay. Feel free to email us at eastbrookcommunityfarm@gmail.com if you would like help navigating our sliding scale.

​

*We would like to express gratitude for all those who have implemented the sliding-scale model before us and inspired others to do so - these include but are not limited to Underground Alchemy, Soul Fire Farm, Little Red Bird Botanicals, and Rock Steady Farm*

We invite all our CSA members to be involved in the farm beyond just picking up their CSA share! We want to offer CSA members opportunities to connect more deeply with the farm in ways that go beyond their financial support. Your involvement puts the Community in Community Supported Agriculture!

​

Ways of getting involved in the farm could include attending monthly work parties, or helping organize events like potlucks and workshops for CSA members (if you have a skill to share with other CSA members, we can offer teaching space!) We would love to see you at one of our monthly farm tours, or to say hello when you pick up your share.

There are plenty of ways to get involved!  Let us know how you would like to be in community, what skills you have to share, and what forms of involvement are most exciting to you.