CSA Pickup in 2007

Rebecca started the Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) program when she was 19 and still studying at Michigan State University out of a financial need to keep the farm afloat. Read the full story here…

The first year started with three locations: Okemos, Lansing, and On the Farm. With a little over 50 members and a lot of support from MSU professors, the inaugural season of experimenting with numbers, systems, and logistics began.

Those first CSA members were crucial in helping to refine the CSA system and communications and, ultimately, in teaching their farmers how to serve them best. We made lots of mistakes and learned a lot!

In the second year (still using dial-up internet folks), the CSA expanded to around 100 members and stayed the same while we settled into this new role. Since we began, the CSA has expanded yearly until 2009, when we reached 300 families.

From 2010 to 2020, Titus Farms’ CSA remained largely unchanged. Each year, the farm provided food to between 200 and 300 families in the Mid-Michigan area, with drop-offs in the Lansing area.

In 2017, the farm invested in an admin system called Farmigo to help with the backend of running the CSA. Members could now put their share on hold or switch locations online.

2019 marked the first year of pre-packed shares. Using the Farmigo software, CSA members could now receive a prepacked box on a given week.

Many people entered and left our lives in those years, and we were grateful to learn more about you, perfect our systems, build new infrastructure, and build our business.

During those early days of COVID, an intrepid group of farmers packed boxes of local goods outside in tents at the farm. Then, when CSA started up, we still practiced social distancing at the market and the farm, wearing masks even when outside sometimes. Home deliveries flourished that year, and our core farmers Karey, Kyle, Tina, and Jackie worked themselves ragged that summer to provide food in the safest manner possible.

The pandemic in 2020 significantly shifted consumer behavior, leading many to prioritize local food. Faced with uncertainty and supply chain disruptions, people increasingly sought out local farms and farmer’s markets, recognizing the importance of supporting their community's food systems. A fear of food scarcity partially drove this shift. However, from this shift, we still made life-long friends, and we hope, convinced some folks that supporting a local farmer can continue to support local economies and enrich communities.

2021 was a challenging year. We were burned out from the rush of 2020, and when we failed to find viable candidates to work steadily on the farm, we decided to take a year off from CSA.

In the following years, we implemented an entirely boxed system, with 2024 being our first year with a weighted credit system. We hope these changes have improved our farm in the long run, as we still work to ensure we can remain flexible enough to serve your needs and earn enough money to continue farming.