While some American farmers have been forced to dump milk or plow under crops due to loss of markets during the COVID-19 pandemic, farmers of community supported agriculture (CSA) programs are thriving.

A reporter contacted Judith Redmond, a founding partner of the 450-acre, organic Full Belly Farm, wanting to see produce rotting in the fields. But Redmond, whose farm is in the Capay Valley northwest of Sacramento, couldn’t help the reporter.

“I said, ‘Well, actually, that’s not what’s happening in the Capay Valley.’ ”

Redmond is busier than ever trying to ramp up production to meet the soaring demand for her produce.

CSA programs are booming nationwide amid the pandemic. In a CSA, members buy a share of a farm’s harvest, which is often organic, and the produce is then delivered weekly in a box. CSA programs everywhere report an increase in memberships that is so strong that there are waiting lists of people wanting to join the programs.