CSA Like a Pro: Spend-Down Share

Do you like to spend a lot of time at the beach during the summer? Do work trips take you away for at least one week a month? Is visiting family in the next state over a priority that makes committing to a CSA difficult?

In answer to those questions, we have created the Spend-Down Share! This is an alternative to the weekly commitment that usually accompanies a CSA share. We want to make our CSA as accessible as possible and this option fills a gap. We’ve had members in the past say, “I have to travel at least one week of each month, but I still want to participate in the CSA!” This is our answer!

In this new model, Spend-Down members pay an annual “membership fee” (kinda like Costco) and then deposit money into their GrownBy account to use as Farm Credit. They then have access to the online store each week of the season to make an order. That way you can get vegetables when you are around and not have to worry about missing shares.

We’ve heard a lot of good feedback from members who used this model last year. Having the flexibility to make orders in the weeks that you want is a great compromise for folks who can’t commit to a full-season CSA share.