Although we are big fans of community-supported agriculture programs, we understand that there are those among us who are not compelled to turn mountains of fresh produce into healthy meals week after week. But there are still compelling reasons to support the local production of goods and services, even if those goods are not kale and strawberries. So, here’s another way to support your local community: Join a CSA.
This is not a trick! As The New York Times reports, buying into a CSA now also means investing in the work of local artists:
Without even having to change the abbreviation, the C.S.A. idea has fully made the leap from agriculture to art. After the first program started four years ago in Minnesota, demonstrating that the concept worked just as well for art lovers as for locavores, community-supported art programs are popping up all over the country: in Pittsburgh, now in its first year; Miami; Brooklyn; Lincoln, Neb.; Fargo, N.D.
It works much the same way as a food-based CSA: Members invest an initial sum and receive whatever the artists are able to produce based on that investment. The only drawback that we can see is that while it’s no problem if you and your friends all have the same run of kale in your salad, it can get a little awkward if you all have the same random sculpture of a pig’s jawbone in your house. But if everyone’s already just hanging up the same poster of Gustav Klimt’s the Kiss, we say, go local.
