Community-supported agriculture (CSA) programs are often hailed as the ethical way to buy food, but I've been in one for three seasons and the economics barely work out. My $650 share yields about 40% less produce than the same money at a farmers market, and the variety is limited to whatever the farm overproduces. If we want local food systems to survive, shouldn't we stop romanticizing CSAs and instead push for policies that make small farms competitive without relying on consumer guilt?