Guest guest Posted December 19, 2001 Report Share Posted December 19, 2001 A last on for good measure --- Marcie Rosenzweig wrote: > THANK YOU FOLKE! > > The critical part of these diagrams is Producer > COST. If you can't > cover your costs, we have a four-letter word for > that LOSS. Frankly, > I consider your salary to be part of your costs. > PROFIT margin is > what you add to your costs to get a profit. If you > only cover your > costs, it's the BREAK EVEN point. > > Two thoughts on this: > > First, if you truly believe in Community Supported > Agriculture, why > hide the truth from the community? Most consumers > are grossly > ignorant of what it takes to produce food and fiber > from the land - > both in terms of labor and other input costs. Part > of getting their > support is to educate them about the costs and > risks we as producers > bear inorder to bring food to their table. Your > community should > understand all the imputs including your pay and the > pay of anyone > working for wages. You have the absolute > responsibility to support > yourself and your family. Does this mean you can't > support some of > those unable to afford a share of food when costs > aren't > externalized? Of course not! And, I believe morally > and ethically > all your shareholders should help in this. This has > even more power > when the actual costs of providing this food are > known. > > Second, even though we live in our factories, > farming is a business > not a lifestyle. Think about it. Who's > "lifestyles" do you want to > support? The rich and famous? The public drunk who > refuses help? > The SUV diving, cell phone talking, over-stressed > yuppie, who cuts > you off because they can't see anyone else exists in > the world but > themselves? Language is important. We grow food > and fiber not > "commodities." Profit is what enables us to improve > fencing, buy or > rent additional land, improve our greenhouse > capabilities, upgrade > our share packageing and leverage other peoples > capital. We can > become emplyers further enriching the community. We > can support more > folks who would not otherwise be able to afford > sahres. Profit is > not a four-letter word. > > Leaving my soapbox now, > Marcie > > Marcie A. Rosenzweig > Full Circle > 3377 Early Times Ln > Auburn, CA 95603-7900 > (530) 885-9201 > Check out Shopping and Auctions for all of your unique holiday gifts! Buy at or bid at http://auctions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted December 20, 2001 Report Share Posted December 20, 2001 > > First, if you truly believe in Community Supported > > Agriculture, why > > hide the truth from the community? Most consumers > > are grossly > > ignorant of what it takes to produce food and fiber > > from the land - > > both in terms of labor and other input costs. Part > > of getting their > > support is to educate them about the costs and > > risks we as producers > > bear inorder to bring food to their table. And education is the what brahmanas are supposed to be doing. By the temple having shares from local growers, they educate by example. >> Profit is what enables us to improve > > fencing, buy or > > rent additional land, improve our greenhouse > > capabilities, upgrade > > our share packageing and leverage other peoples > > capital. We can > > become emplyers further enriching the community. We > > can support more > > folks who would not otherwise be able to afford > > sahres. Profit is > > not a four-letter word. One way some CSAs help low income people get shares is by having a work for part of your share program. That means you can keep reasonable prices and still provide for low income/renunciates to be part of the program. > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted December 20, 2001 Report Share Posted December 20, 2001 I hope you all don't mind that I put another one of these up from the CSA discussion group, but this one is fairly interesting. --- Ewell wrote: > In my opinion, CSA farming, when viewed strictly > from a business standpoint, > is a horrible business to get into, especially in > short season areas. It's a > business that requires considerable start up capital > and, at best, yields a > pretty paltry return. In what other business do the > top income producers > earn only a middle class income after many years of > hard work? And, unlike > other businesses, a CSA farmer can expect to sell > his/her business for very > little above the value of it's assets. In fact I do > not see how a young > person with little capital can realistically expect > to buy a farm and the > necessary equipment and pay for it from CSA farming > alone. > > Given this enormous challenge, one needs to really > have their act together > from a business standpoint if they want to succeed. > And by "succeed" I mean > to meet one's financial goals, which are different > for everyone. A farmer > whose goals are to support a family of 4 is going to > have to take a very > different approach than someone with a working > spouse who wants to earn > $10,000 over the course of a season. So, the first > objective is to be honest > with one's self and set a goal of what one wants to > earn as net income. > > There is not alot of good financial info out there > but what I've found > coincides with what we have found to be true on our > farm of 11 acres of > mixed organic vegetables. We run a 170 member CSA > and attend 4 farmers > markets per week. Seems that most well run farms > gross sales are about > $10,000 an acre, give or take. Generally as a farm > gets larger this number > decreases, smaller farms can gross a little more. > Profit margins run around > 1/3, so $3,000 - $4,000 per acre. For instance a > farm charging $400 per > share would need to figure 25 shares per acre for a > $10,000 gross return per > acre. Hence what I call the CSA income equation: > share price x # of members > x 33% = farmer's income. > > I have no doubt that most of our members have > already computed this equation > in their heads and are wondering how we get by. > Isn't it interesting that so > many farmers feel that they must ask these same > "supportive members" if it's > OK to raise prices? > > So the answer becomes pretty clear to me, one must > choose from one or more > of the following options. > - raise one's prices > - produce more food or raise the quality > - cut costs by farming more efficiently > - make a choice that it's ok the way it is and don't > change anything > - or quit farming Check out Shopping and Auctions for all of your unique holiday gifts! Buy at or bid at http://auctions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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