Zinniker Farm Stewardship Association - ZFSA

A New Chapter Begins

Thank you for your interest in joining the Zinniker Farm Stewardship Association! Becoming a member of the Zinniker Farm Stewardship Association (ZFSA) means that you are becoming part of a unique membership organization focused on long-term stewardship of Zinniker farm and on the health and well being of you and your family. 

Membership benefits include:

Incredible Food:

As the oldest biodynamic farm in the United States, Zinniker Farm has some of the healthiest soil and some of the most nutrient dense food available in the United States. If you believe that food is medicine, this is an incredible investment.

Holistic Approach:

We know that our members are seeking holistic solutions to their health and well being. For this reason, we offer so much more than amazing food. These additional offerings include 

  • Seasonal festivals and field days on the farm

  • Meals and other community events in places where we have a concentration of members

  • Gardening, nutrition and cooking classes

  • Biodynamic compost, biodynamic preparations, and guidance on how to use them in your own yard and garden

  • Handmade soaps and crafts

  • In the future we look to connect food, farming and healthcare with consultations on holistic health treatments from Alisyn Benkowski and other practitioners in our network of friends and colleagues

Personalized Offerings:

All ZFSA members receive a unique set of products and other offerings based on one on one conversations with the farmers and on the survey you will fill out at the time you join. We want to get to know you and make sure you are getting exactly what you need, and want, through your membership.

Flexible Membership Levels:

ZFSA members don’t buy products but rather make generous monthly contributions toward the needs of the farm. And just as the needs of all ZFSA members are different, so is their capacity to contribute to the well being of the farm. For this reason, we offer several membership levels.

Priority Access:

We anticipate that in the near future, all the fruits of Zinniker Farm will only be available to our members. This means now is the time to secure a membership. Remember, if you ever leave ZFSA, you can pass this membership on to your friends or other family members.

Participation and Transparency:

ZFSA is a separate legal entity from the farm which has been created to help steward Zinniker Farm into the future. As a member of ZFSA you are eligible to serve on the board of ZFSA, attend our annual members meeting, and see and ask questions about the budget and financial reports of ZFSA and Zinniker Farm.

As you can see, ZFSA is not a typical CSA!  ZFSA has been started by a group of long-term Zinniker Farm friends and consumers, because we want to be sure this incredible farm can survive and thrive going into the future. We are organized as a non-profit corporation, with a board that includes Mark and Petra Zinniker and Aidan Benkowski. 

Goals of ZFSA:

  • Insuring that Zinniker farm is selflessly stewarded in perpetuity using the best organic, biodynamic, and regenerative farming practices.

  • Supporting the health and well being of our members through the incredible food and other offerings from Zinniker Farm.

  • Helping Mark and Petra Zinniker, the current stewards of Zinniker Farm, start stepping back from full responsibility for the farm operations and move toward and into retirement with dignity.

  • Helping Aidan and Alisyn Benkowski get established on Zinniker Farm and help them grow and diversify the farm enterprises so that the farm can provide more and more of the food needs of the ZFSA members.

  • Nurturing the farm’s role as a center for cultural renewal and farmer and consumer education.

  • Pioneering a new kind of CSA that could help thousands of other farms survive and thrive.

Choose the right plan for you.

Farm pick-up is always available plus we have distribution in Chicago & Milwaukee. We do not offering shipping at this time. Reach out here with any questions.

Sunshine

Steward

$3600 annually or

$300 monthly

As a Sunshine Steward, we will customize a monthly combination based on your survey. At this level you may receive:

  • Monthly Eggs

  • Approx 9lbs of meat per month (Beef, Pork)

  • Soup Chickens

  • Roasting Chickens

  • Mushrooms as available

  • Honey and other farm staples like milk soap, and biodynamic preparations

  • Seasonal produce when available

Cosmic

Cultivator

$2400 annually or

$200 monthly

As a Cosmic Cultivator, we will customize a monthly combination based on your survey. At this level you may receive:

  • Monthly eggs

  • Appox 6lbs of meat per month (Beef, Pork)

  • Soup Chickens

  • Roasting Chickens

  • Mushrooms as available

  • 1 bar of milk soap per month and other farm staples

Soil

Builder

$1,200 annually or

$100 monthly

As a Soil Builder, we will customize a monthly combination based on your survey. At this level you may receive:

  • Monthly eggs

  • Appox 3lbs of meat per month (Beef, Pork)

  • Soup Chickens

Support our new farmer with a donation.

Note, gifts to ZFSA are not tax-deductible but we can arrange for you to make a tax-deductible donation for gifts over $1,000 through our non-profit fiscal sponsor or donor advised fund option.

Frequently asked questions:

  • We are a group of individuals who are committed to help steward the legacy of Zinniker Farm into the future and who wish to benefit from the extraordinarily vital, flavorful, nutrient dense food produced on the farm. We are in the process of forming a new kind of economic and cultural association whose goals are to:

    1. Ensure the farm continues to be selflessly stewarded in perpetuity using the best organic, biodynamic, and regenerative farming practices;

    2. Grow the number of people who can benefit from a connection to the farm and to the vital, nutrient dense food produced on the farm; 

    3. Help Mark and Petra Zinniker, the current stewards of Zinniker Farm, earn a good living and start stepping back from full responsibility for the farm operations and move toward and into retirement;

    4. Help a new farm family to get established on Zinniker Farm who can help move the current farm enterprises into the future and diversify the farm’s offerings so that the farm can provide more and more of the food needs of the ZFSA members;

    5. Nurture the farm’s role as a center for cultural renewal and farmer and consumer education.

  • Each year, the members of ZFSA, through a core group that includes the farmers, will establish an annual budget for the farm. This budget will include everything needed to run the farm in the coming year, provide a dignified living for the farmers, and insure the long-term sustainability of the farm, including capital improvements and the costs necessary to bring new farmers into the land. Members of the ZFSA will then make pledges and contributions sufficient to cover the entire budget of the farm and in turn, the entire output of the farm will be distributed to the members of the Association. The exact legal structures and systems that will be used to operate and manage ZFSA are still in the process of being worked out, but we imagine that in addition to the core group, ZFSA will have committees to manage outreach, distribution and farm-based and community events. At present we assume that ZFSA will need to contract with one or two part time people to help coordinate these efforts.

  • While ZFSA will have some similarities to a typical community supported agriculture (CSA) program, it is different because we are focused on the long-term stewardship of the farm as a whole and not just on buying food for one growing season. Specifically, this means:

    1. The farm’s budget will be developed in partnership with ZFSA members and there will be full transparency with the members regarding every aspect of the farm’s finances and management.

    2. ZFSA members are not simply buying a share in a portion of the farm’s output but rather making financial commitments and gifts to cover the whole annual budget of the farm and in turn receiving the entire output of the farm.

    3. We anticipate that the amount of each member’s contribution will be different based on their unique financial circumstances, rather than paying a common flat rate. Some individuals and organizations may also choose to make contributions to support the work of Zinniker farm who do not wish to gain access to the food. 

  • We anticipate that many of ZFSA members will be people who love and want to support Zinniker Farm but who live too far away, or for other reasons, do want to partake of the harvest from the farm. There is a place on the membership form where you can tell us you will be a non-food member. Keep in mind, however, that the Zinnikers are happy to ship non-perishable products like soap, honey and the biodynamic preparations, to members who live at a distance.

“The thing I love best about zinniker farm is the quality of food I can get is so far superior to anything I can find in any store. Because they create great soil that leads to great food!”

— David D

Questions before getting started?

Contact us