Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
ownership arrangements, and methods of payment and food distribution. Four of the most
common forms of CSA include 5
1. Farmer-directed CSAs: The producer organizes the CSA and takes major responsibil-
ity for managing it. Shareholders are seen as “subscribers” and have minimal involve-
ment in the day-to-day operation of the farm. For a cash share, paid before the season
begins, subscribers to the farm receive a box of food and other agricultural products
on a weekly basis throughout the growing season.
2. Consumer-directed CSAs: A group (community) of consumers organize the CSA and
then recruit a farmer to produce for them. Decisions regarding what will be grown and
under what methods are made by the consumers, though the farmer is typically brought
into these discussions. Labor is sometimes provided by CSA members.
3. Farmer-coordinated CSAs: Two or more producers pool their resources and expertise
to produce a wide variety of food and agricultural products for an expanded group of
consumers. Farmer-coordinated CSAs might include milk, eggs, and meat in addition
to the fruits and vegetables typically associated with CSA operations. Each producer
in the coordinated CSA specializes in one product or a set of products. A network of
CSA producers thus meets a wider set of needs than any one farmer could individually.
4. Farmer-consumer cooperatives: Producers and consumers join together to purchase
land and equipment for the CSA. Decisions regarding what to grow and under what
conditions are made jointly by the farmers and the shareholders.
In all four CSA types, the farmer develops a production plan and budget. This is sometimes
done with shareholder input and sometimes without it. The budget covers all the anticipated
costs of production, including a fair wage for the farmer and other employees of the CSA.
The total costs are then divided among the number of shares to be sold. Some CSAs have
developed arrangements to subsidize low-income shareholders and to divert part of the food
produced to food banks and other emergency food outlets.
Although CSAs take many forms, all are committed to establishing and maintaining a
more local and just food system. CSAs combine a concern over land stewardship with an
imperative to maintain productive and profitable small farms. In a 1995 study of CSA share-
holders, Cynthia Abbott Cone and Ann Kakaliouras found that environmental and commu-
nity concerns were more important than the price of food as reasons why the shareholders
joined a CSA (see table 6.2). 6
CSAs are an important part of civic agriculture. They strengthen the local food economy
and preserve farmland. A web of connected and cooperatively organized CSAs could rep-
resent a real and viable alternative to the mass-produced, homogeneous, imported produce
found in most supermarkets today.
Table 6.2 . Consumer Perspectives on Community-Supported Agriculture
1.
Source of organic produce
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