Secluded on a winding country road In South Egremont, Massachusetts, Indian Line Farm has been making history as a model for small-scale, economically and environmentally sustainable agriculture for the past twenty years. The late Robyn Van En, former proprietor of Indian Line, co-founded the farm in 1985 as the very first community supported agriculture (CSA) project on this continent. She is widely acknowledged as having been the foremost pioneer of the CSA movement in North America.
Based on a partnership between farm, farmer and community, CSAs involve committed consumers providing operating capital up-front to farmers, with the guarantee of a regular, sustained share of organic produce during the growing season. CSAs allow Farmers to plan for the future without the burden of interest-bearing bank debt, while consumers can rest assured that their food is produced in a manner that nurtures the local environment and the local economy.
Along with Clemens Kalischer and Cathy Roth, Robyn co-founded the Berkshire Regional Food and Land Council, known today as Berkshire Grown. Now under the direction of Margaret Moulton, Berkshire Grown promotes locally produced food, flowers and plants in the Berkshire region and builds partnerships between farmers, chefs and consumers.
By 1992, Robyn founded CSA of North America, a nonprofit clearinghouse to support CSA development. From coast to coast, she spoke, educated, organized and advocated for CSAs and sustainable agriculture. In a little over ten years, she directly assisted in the formation of more than 200 CSAs across the country.
The world suffered a great loss when Robyn died unexpectedly at age 49 in January of 1997. But her work lives on in the more than 3,000 active CSAs that can be found across the US, Canada, South America, Africa, New Zealand, and Hungary.
