A CSA with star power

    The appeal of Community Supported Agriculture isn’t limited to farmers trying to make a living. Dave Matthews, the rock music star, has a CSA on his 1300-acre farm in Virginia. Last year, its third, the CSA had 160 shareholders, according to an article in The Virginia Biological Farmer.
    The farm, called Best of What’s Around, includes 800 acres of certified-organic cropland with several enterprises including the CSA. The property has been placed under a conservation easement with the Virginia Outdoors Foundation, which means it will be protected from development in perpetuity.
    The CSA members are mostly in nearby Charlottesville, home of the University of Virginia. Dave Matthews lived in Charlottesville before achieving success in the music business. His wife, Ashley Harper Matthews, is a Naturopathic doctor. Both have a strong interest in organic farming and Dave Matthews has served for several years on the board of Farm Aid, the nonprofit organization run by Willie Nelson that hosts concerts to raise money for programs that help farmers.
    The CSA is run by Matthew Holt and Eliza Evans and operates on 20 acres of cropland, with 5-10 acres in vegetables at any given time. Other enterprises on Matthews’ farm include a 100-head beef cattle operation with pasture and hay production. An 800-hen laying operating proved unprofitable and was shut down, according to the article in the Virginia Biological Farmer.
    Mark Schonbeck, who wrote the article, said the Matthews’ long-term goal is to have a lot of people farming organically and sharing equipment.
     “What I saw at Best of What’s Around already reflects a lot of talent, careful thought and good farm management,” Mark wrote. “It gives me high hopes that these 800 acres will become a large and vital enclave of sustainability over the long run.”  
    Dave Matthews isn’t the first rock star to use his land for organic produce farming. Bruce Springsteen has an organic farm in New Jersey and Sting has one near London.