From Field to Doorstep THIS CAPAY FARM IS REINVENTING THE CSA BOX
Capay Organic Farm. Photo courtesy of Bill Goidell.
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ears ago, my venture into buying CSA (Community Supported Agriculture), which came in the form of a heavy wooden box filled with produce and delivered by a handsome (ruggedly so, of course) farmer in a beat-up truck, wasn’t particularly successful. I didn’t know what to do with most of the vegetables that arrived every week— kohlrabi, fennel and daikon were not standard fare in our house then—but I liked supporting a local farm. My taste buds, along with CSA’s skills in marketing and production, have evolved over time. Computers do a lot of the heavy lifting now, managing and processing huge amounts of information for farmers, and the internet has revolutionized the way people buy and consume produce from local farms. Today, customers can choose what they want in their CSA boxes, including artisan products like honey, a bouquet of flowers, organic milk and eggs. Log
AK By Angela Knight Farm to Fork
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The Barnes-Barsotti family in 1985
into your account and you can add and delete items, set your delivery frequency, learn about the farm and the farmers and find recipes. Box types are as varied as the produce they contain, ranging from traditional CSA to organic snack packs. “Our company has broken the mold of the old production chain and [it has been] able to deliver something different,” says Thaddeus Barsotti. “We’re going to make it really easy for you to support local agriculture.” He’s one of the co-owners and the co-CEO and chief farmer at Capay Organic and Farm Fresh to You, a CSA and home delivery service. With his
brothers Noah Barnes and Freeman Barsotti, Thaddeus has grown their mother’s tiny CSA in Capay Valley into a produce powerhouse, delivering to thousands of customers throughout California. (Farm Fresh to You partners with Suzie’s Farm to deliver local produce in Southern California.) Twenty-five years ago, Kathleen Barsotti began packing produce grown on her farm into boxes and delivering them locally. The farm, Capay Organic, was founded by Kathleen and her then-husband, Martin Barnes. Thaddeus—their middle child, who was born in the family’s farmhouse—remembers
helping with chores when he was growing up, including selling produce at farmers markets and filling CSA boxes. Today, bustling workers, with assistance from sophisticated software, large computer monitors, an efficient assembly line and forklifts, handle the packing duties in a clean, climate-controlled warehouse in West Sacramento. Delivery trucks rush the freshly packed boxes to distribution hubs and local porches. Rows of customer service agents, facing computer screens, field calls in the office. Here’s a simplified version of the way it works. If your box is set for delivery on Wednesday in the Sacramento region, most of the produce will be picked in Capay Valley on Monday. Some produce, onions and potatoes, for example, is picked ahead of time and stored. On Monday night, the produce travels to the facility in West Sac. On Tuesday, workers pack it into boxes, sorting everything and putting it on trucks. On Tuesday evening, a delivery driver quietly places the box on your doorstep. On Wednesday morning, open the door and there’s your box. It’s like Christmas and your birthday rolled into one—minus a ruggedly handsome farmer in a beat-up truck.