Feb 11, 2008 12:00 PM, By MATTHEW ENIS

As local foods become ever more popular, Community Supported Agriculture programs are building relationships with natural food co-ops By: By MATTHEW ENIS

In 1985, Robyn Van En pioneered a new concept in North American farming at her Indian Line Farm in South Egremont, Mass. By selling shares of the projected harvest from her apple orchard to local customers, she ensured a stable income for the farm. In exchange, the farm's “shareholders” received a regular supply of fresh produce, and a sense that they were helping a local grower and voting with their dollars for ecologically sound agriculture.

Modeled after similar programs in Europe and Japan, Van En called the business model Community Supported Agriculture. And before her untimely death in 1997, she had become the leader of a budding movement, authoring books on CSA programs, and helping to found over 200 similar initiatives around the country.

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