Typically, this is how it works: For an up-front fee, a CSA member receives a weekly box of fresh vegetables. The value of food received over the course of the 22-week growing season will be equal to or greater than a similar purchase through established supermarkets. The emphasis is on variety and quality suitable for taste and health as opposed to characteristics suitable for transportation and storage over long distances.

“We have to start rethinking the way we do business,” Mr. Detelj said. “With the price of energy going sky high, we believe that areas like ours may have to be self-sustaining. Growing our own food is part of that. When gas is $10 a gallon, are truckers going to ship California produce across America’s highways?

“And we’ll produce our own energy,” he added. “I want the option to install solar panels or build wind farms versus buying power from an electric company.”