CSA, which stands for “Community Supported Agriculture”, is a sales model where customers pay at the beginning of the season for a share of the farm’s harvest. The CSA concept was created in the 1960s by Booker T. Whatley, a Black horticulturist and agricultural professor at Tuskegee University in Alabama in response to Black farmers routinely being denied loans and grants from the federal government. These “clientele membership clubs” gave Black farmers the financial security they needed to keep their land, while also building and reinforcing Black communities.

We are waiting on feedback from our members to determine our exact pickup location, but we know we will have at least one pickup option in Portland and one at the farm in Scarborough.

We’re trialing a wide variety in our 2025 plan, with a focus on space-efficient, high-value crops that make sense on our ½ acre scale. You can expect to see a couple of different greens in your box every week, along with a fresh herb, onions or scallions and three other seasonal crops. Because of personal preference and an interest in seed-saving, we’ve included several open-pollinated “heirloom” varieties, many of which have roots in Italy.

You can expect to be surprised by the prints, which Ana will create every week in response to the harvest! While most of the work will be made by Ana, we may choose a few weeks to commission prints from some of our favorite local artists.

Because we are keeping things simple in this first year, we will not be offering the option to customize CSA boxes. We do hope to build that flexibility into our CSA in future years when we have some additional experience under our belt. With that being said, we are happy to make substitutions for individuals with food allergies. You’ll have the opportunity to share allergy information with us on the sign-up form.

While we are on the path to getting our certification, Feastland Farm is not yet certified organic. With that being said, we are committed to rigorously following the standards for organic certification. It’s also a goal of the farm to go a step further and obtain a Real Organic certification, which recognizes small and mid-sized farms who are actively implementing soil health practices.

While it helps to pay the farm in full at sign-up, we recognize that this can be challenging for some of our members. If you feel unable to pay the full amount of the CSA upfront, send us an email. We’re happy to work with you to make a plan. 

We don’t currently offer a smaller share. If you are concerned that you’ll be receiving more produce than you can eat, we recommend coordinating with a friend, neighbor or coworker to split a share or alternate weeks.

We realize people are often out of town in the summer and expect some members might miss a week here and there. We may incorporate skip weeks in future seasons, but for now recommend either asking a friend to pick up your share or asking us to donate your share while you’re away.

If you're moving out of town or are unhappy with your membership, let us know. We’re willing to issue a refund on a prorated basis.