Shumei Consumer-Supported Agriculture (CSA)

Not everyone is a farmer, but everyone can participate in Natural Agriculture. Indeed, the consumer plays an integral role in making the system function. Shumei Natural Agriculture encourages consumers to establish relationships with the farmers producing their food and vice-versa. Consumer-supported agriculture (CSA) is a model of food production and distribution, which enables consumers to support farmers in many practical ways.

As farmers shift from profit-oriented agriculture to the Natural Agriculture approach, it becomes difficult to survive in the conventional farm economy—they simply can’t compete on a dollar-per-pound basis. To enable and encourage the practice of Natural Agriculture farming, consumers and farmers must work together. They can organize cooperatives to produce and purchase local products. Working with the farmer, consumers can organize sales and distribution, and educate others about Natural Agriculture to attract new members to the cooperatives. They can alter their diets to eat locally, and help in educating the community on how to eat seasonally.

By enabling the farmers to farm in this mindful manner, the consumer is also practicing a conscious relationship with the natural world. Everyone is a consumer and Shumei Natural Agriculture allows us to reconnect with nature and participate in the natural system. This can translate into consumer-supported agriculture, volunteering on a farm to starting your own garden.

Natural Agriculture as a Way of Eating

The experience of eating Natural Agriculture produce is as meaningful as that of growing the food. When we prepare our food, Natural Agriculture reminds us to recognize its great value and cook in a way that honors the food. When we sit down to eat, we experience a profound sense of gratitude to both farmer and nature. Natural Agriculture enables us to cease to be “consumers,” and become cooperators instead. That’s because in Natural Agriculture, the traditional hierarchy of agriculture—wherein the soil serves the farmer and the farmer serves the consumer—is replaced. In the new system, the three are equal partners. The soil grows and provides. The farmer tends the soil and grows the plants. The consumer participates, appreciates, and educates. The process behind eating changes from being an assembly line to a true food system.