Seeds of a New Economy? A Qualitative Investigation of Diverse Economic Practices Within Community Supported Agriculture and Community Supported Enterprise

Abstract

As a compelling alternative to mainstream agribusiness food production and distribution networks, the Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) movement has become increasingly visible. Besides being a template to pursue sustainable farming, CSA has also influenced new visions of economy. How has participation in the numerous flexible spaces of production and consumption impacted farmers, apprentices, members and others engaged with CSA? As a response to the notion that “there is no alternative” to global capitalism, this study asks the question: How are CSA participants using the diverse alternative economic practices common to CSA and building upon them to coconstruct new realms of economic possibility? Invoking Gibson-Graham’s theories of a “diverse economy” and their “politics of possibility”, I suggest that by growing diverse economies, CSA fosters many practical and meaningful alternatives to capitalist production and exchange models. In contrast to capitalist systems, many economic practices occurring via CSA prioritize ethical and environmentally conscious options. As a model that has resisted being co-opted by the “1% “, CSA remains a vibrant and largely successful economic vision for members of the “99%”. Research informing this paper consists of qualitative empirical data collected during a three-year study at five divergent CSA enterprises in Western Massachusetts.