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Community-Supported Agriculture

Community-Supported Agriculture. A Sustainable Alternative Cynthia Abbott & Andrea Myhre. CSA – A Growing Social Movement. Most important goals – quality of food & survival of small farms Potential to solve problems by meeting needs of farmers & consumers.

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Community-Supported Agriculture

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  1. Community-Supported Agriculture A Sustainable Alternative Cynthia Abbott & Andrea Myhre

  2. CSA – A Growing Social Movement • Most important goals – quality of food & survival of small farms • Potential to solve problems by meeting needs of farmers & consumers

  3. First U.S. CSA in Massachusetts in 1985 • Twin Cities: 1st CSA in the Twin Cities was n 1988 • Today over 1000 in the U.S. with $6 million worth of shares

  4. Appears on surface to be merely evasion of a market dominated by large agribusinesses, unhealthy food, & long-term environmental degradation • But supporters have a deeper agenda regarding the very nature of agriculture

  5. The Broader Context • Capitalism, industrialism, created a sense of detachment, loss of tightly bound communities • Thus there is a need to recreate strong community social ties • CSAs – potential for reembedding people

  6. Hamline University Student Honors Project Research Results • CSAs average 20 - 313 acres • 30-364 shareholders • Moral vision: environmental sustainability, nurturing community relations

  7. Reasons for Belonging

  8. Members were very satisfied with cost, quality, & quantity • Shares ranged $250-$425 • New members unfamiliar with kohlrabi, kale, collard greens, turnips, parsnips, rutabaga & how to prepare them

  9. Reasons for Non-renewal: • Inconvenient delivery times • Variety & quantity of vegetables received • “Supermarket withdrawal” • Supportive, but time commitments as members of the farm “Philosophically, I’m all for it. In terms of practicality, it doesn’t work for our family” • Satisfaction increased with length of membership “You definitely need to give the concept a 2-season try. It’s different from grocery shopping, but that’s the point”

  10. Membership • 63% were families with children • 209 Households—74% of time women initiated membership • Those with low participationon the farm (paying shares only) • – 48% gave supporting the local farmer as reason for membership • – 22% gave land stewardship as reason for belonging • – 13% gave belonging to the community as reason

  11. Those with high participation on the farm • – 93% gave supporting the local farmer as reason for memebership • – 79% gave land stewardship • – 64% gave belonging to community

  12. Impersonal market relations are replaced with trust • Development of a sense of civic responsibility • “The farm can bridge the gap between the global & the personal & allows the shareholder to re-embed the sense of self-identity into the community, into a rural place, & into a spiritual connection to the natural cycle of life” • The farmers were committed to a way of life using methods that were congruent with sustainable gardening. • The farmers had to become experts in the complexity of natural systems.

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