Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
CHAPTER 6
Civic Agriculture and Community
Agriculture Development
Profiling Civic Agriculture
The industrial type of agriculture produces most of America's food and fiber. However, a
new form of civic agriculture that does not fit this conventional model of food production
is emerging throughout the country and especially on the East and West Coasts. In this new
civic agriculture, local agriculture is being reborn. This trend is most advanced and evident in
the Northeast, especially New York, Vermont, and Massachusetts, where small-scale, locally
oriented producers and processors have become keys in revitalizing rural areas of the region.
These producers represent the vanguard of an important social trend.
To be sure, there is an emerging debate about whether civically organized local food sys-
tems can continue to expand and flourish in a globalizing environment. However, over the
past ten years, an accumulating body of research has begun to assess the benefits of small
enterprises on the level of civic and community welfare. Communities that nurture local sys-
tems of agricultural production and food distribution as one part of a broader plan of econom-
ic development may gain greater control over their economic destinies, enhance the level of
social capital among their residents, and contribute to rising levels of civic welfare and so-
cioeconomic well-being. 1
Civic agriculturalists and their enterprises are a varied lot, and no one set of characteristics
perfectly defines these new producers. However, a profile that captures the tendencies of
their operations compared with those of conventional agricultural producers can be construc-
ted (table 6.1). Civic agriculture is oriented toward local market outlets that serve local con-
sumers rather than national or international mass markets. Farmers' markets, roadside stands,
U-pick operations, and community-supported agriculture (CSA) are organizational manifest-
ations of civic agriculture. Civic agriculture is seen as an integral part of rural and urban
communities, not merely as the production of commodities. The direct contact between civic
farmers and consumers nurtures bonds of community. In civic agriculture, producers forge
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