Working With Low income Communities

Part of Just Food’s mission is to work with communities and farmers to make farm-fresh food accessible to people of all income levels in NYC. Together, we have developed many ways to make fresh produce affordable and accessible especially to low-income members.

Just Food provides CSA groups with strategies, examples, and information on purchasing options for low-income community members. Communities and farmers need to consider how much flexibility they are able to offer for these purchasing options. We recommend that farmers have a conversation with their core groups to learn to what extent they are interested in using flexible payment options and to decide how both parties would like to be involved in that effort.

Some of the strategies for making shares affordable will need the farmer to be flexible while others will not affect the farm. These different options are described below.

The following are ways that CSA groups could provide low-income members with payment options that should minimally impact the farmer:

1. Sliding Scale - members pay different amounts based on their income. Farmers still get the same price per share – some members pay above this price and some below. This strategy works well for CSAs in communities that have potential members from a range of low, middle, and upper income levels.

2. Share-a-Share Fund- members are encouraged to make donations above their share cost in order to subsidize shares for their low-income neighbors. This strategy also works well for in mixed income communities.

3. Seek Funding to Subsidize Shares - core groups raise money to subsidize CSA shares.

4. Revolving Loan Funds - Many CSAs choose to use funds that they receive through Share a Share or fundraising to create a revolving loan. This enables the CSA to pay the farmer upfront for shares and then have members pay back their share price to the Fund on a very flexible schedule.

5. Sister CSA - Seek out a sister CSA (from the same farm), a restaurant or an institution to purchase shares at a higher price to subsidize shares for members in lower income community.

The following are ways farmers can help make CSA affordable to low income members. Not all farms will be able to offer any or all of these options. We encourage farms to think about which of these could work for their system.

1. Shortened Season and/or Smaller Shares - The farmer could offset the cost by delivering for fewer weeks or include fewer items in the share.

2. Payments Over Time - Members are given the option of paying in installments either before the beginning of the season or possibly spread out over the season. This means the farmer would get payment up front from some members and would get weekly or monthly payments from other members.

3. Offer Half Shares - farmer offers a half share which is approximately half the cost of a full share

4. Food Stamp payments - core groups accept Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) as a form of payment. This would mean that the farmer would not be paid in entirety at the beginning of the season since the food stamp payment would be made incrementally.

5. Offer Free Shares – Some farmers offer free shares for a number of shares sold (one share for every 10 or 20 shares sold by the CSA) or a set number per site for the site to use as they would like. Groups often use these shares to provide reduced-cost shares to the core group or lower-income members.