Community Supported Agriculture Farms Research Articles

Assessing the agroecological performance and sustainability of Community Supported Agriculture farms in Flanders, Belgium

Assessing the agroecological performance and sustainability of Community Supported Agriculture farms in Flanders, Belgium

Building relationships back into the food system: addressing food insecurity and food well-being

IntroductionFailures of the current food system sit at the core of the multitude of crises by being the root framework for both consumption choices and food production. Low-income households are disproportionately affected by these failures, impacting their food security and access to healthy and sustainable foods. Community-supported agriculture (CSA) is a bottom-up response towards an agri-food system transformation by providing an alternative food system based on agroecologically grown food that is sold locally and rooted in social values. Alongside other food citizenship movements and alternative food networks (AFN), CSAs are driven by the vision to develop a democratic, socially and economically just, and environmentally sustainable food system. Yet, low-income households are underrepresented in the CSA community.MethodOur paper presents findings from a co-produced intervention between the research team, four CSA farms based in Wales, United Kingdom and two food aid partners that sought to identify ways to improve the accessibility of CSA memberships for food-insecure households. Thirty-eight households received a weekly veg bag for a period of 2–4 months. We interviewed 16 household members at the project start and end of the harvest season. Building on the food well-being framework, we investigate impacts of a CSA membership on food-insecure households.ResultsWe found that CSA membership holistically improves food well-being, through strengthening producer-consumer relationships, increasing availability of healthy foods, helping people to care for their own and their families well-being, and building place-based food capability and literacy.DiscussionThis paper supports wider narratives that call for systematically prioritizing interventions that promote overall food well-being, which can lead to sustainable and just food systems with positive outcomes for financially excluded, food insecure households in localized AFNs.

Pioneer Valley Jazz Shares, Connecticut River Valley, Western Massachusetts, United States

Pioneer Valley Jazz Shares, Connecticut River Valley, Western Massachusetts, United States

Exploring member trust in German community-supported agriculture: a multiple regression analysis

Opaque value chains as well as environmental, ethical and health issues and food scandals are decreasing consumer trust in conventional agriculture and the dominant food system. As a result, critical consumers are increasingly turning to community-supported agriculture (CSA) to reconnect with producers and food. CSA is often perceived as a more sustainable, localized mode of food production, providing transparent production or social interaction between consumers and producers. This enables consumers to observe where their food is coming from, which means CSA is considered suitable for building trust in food (production). However, it remains unclear how exactly members’ trust in ‘their’ farmers is built. To determine the factors that predict members’ trust in CSA and its farmers, and the importance of these factors when compared to each other, we conducted a quantitative study among CSA members in Germany and applied a multiple regression model (n = 790). The analysis revealed that trust in CSA and its farmers is influenced by “reputation”, “supply of information”, “direct social interaction” and the “duration of CSA membership”. Other factors such as the “certification status of the CSA farm” and “attitudes toward organic certification” did not significantly predict trust. We conclude that producers’ willingness to be transparent already signals trustworthiness to CSA members and is more important to members than formal signals. Other actors within the food system could learn from CSA principles and foster a transition toward a more regionalized value-based food system to help restore agriculture’s integrity.

Internalizing externalities through net ecosystem service analysis–A case study of greenhouse vegetable farms in Beijing

One of the causes for market failure is that product externalities are not internalized into product prices. A method was put forward to internalize the externalities into the prices of agro-products, both positive (ecosystem services (ESs)) and negative (ecosystem disservices (EDSs)) externalities generated from agroecosystems were integrated into the calculation of net ecosystem service (NES) through monetary analysis. The case study of greenhouse vegetable production was carried out in conventional (CON), organic (ORG), and community-supported agriculture (CSA) farms in Beijing suburbs. The total ESs value (124 thousand USD ha−1 yr−1) of CSA farms was the highest. The total EDSs value (28.1 thousand USD ha−1 yr−1) of CON farms was the highest, and was 21 and 35 times of ORG and CSA farms, respectively. Pesticides contributed to 76% EDS value of CON farms. The NES values (without provisional ES) of CON, ORG and CSA farms were −25.4, 2.69, and 8.35 thousand USD ha−1 yr−1, respectively. The full prices of ORG (3.45 USD kg−1) and CSA (4.65 USD kg−1) vegetables were higher than those of CON (1.50 USD kg−1) vegetables. The market price of CON vegetables did not cover their value of net-negative externalities. The methodology of NES can be applied to comprehensively evaluate environmental sustainability, set fair prices for eco-friendly products, and provide a reference for eco-compensation. Further studies should be conducted, sampling more farms of different agroecosystems in different regions to test its applicability and practicality to provide substantial data for its broader application.

Environmental and economic life cycle assessment of alternative greenhouse vegetable production farms in peri-urban Beijing, China

With the rapid urbanization, peri-urban agriculture faces with increased pressure to provide sufficient and qualified food without environment deterioration. Organic agriculture and community-supported agriculture are considered as two alternatives to reduce the environmental burdens related to agricultural production. In order to gain a better understanding of both agroecosystems, an on-site survey was conducted via a semi-structured questionnaire on eight conventional (CON), eight organic (ORG), and seven community-supported agriculture (CSA) farms of greenhouse vegetable production in the peri-urban region of Beijing China. Environmental impacts and economic performance were analyzed with life cycle assessment (LCA), life cycle costing (LCC), and eco-efficiency methods. The results indicated that CSA farms exhibited the lowest integrated environmental impact index, which was 29% and 82% lower than those of ORG and CON farms, respectively. Specifically, ORG farms exhibited the highest soil eco-toxicity potential and aquatic eutrophication potential, and this is mainly due to the heavy application of off-farm manures. The LCCs of CON, ORG, and CSA farms corresponded to 29.2, 65.5, and 74.0 thousand USD/ha, respectively. Labor incurred the highest cost accounting for 32%, 50% and 38% of total cost in CON, ORG and CSA farms, respectively. Additionally, CSA farms exhibited the highest gross income (40.74 thousand USD/ha), and this was followed by ORG (21.13 thousand USD/ha) and CON (14.31 thousand USD/ha) farms. Besides, CSA farms also exhibited the highest cost-benefit ratio with 0.51, while ORG farms exhibited the lowest cost-benefit ratio of 0.28. CSA farms also showed the highest eco-efficiency when compared with CON and ORG farms, implying that they achieved more profit with lower environmental impacts. The results of the study provide a reference for decision makers and stakeholders to promote the development of sustainable agriculture in peri-urban areas.

Co-Creating Value in Sustainable and Alternative Food Networks: The Case of Community Supported Agriculture in New Zealand

Background: Over recent decades, society has been facing different social, political, and economic challenges that are changing classical consumption dynamics towards more sustainable practices, mostly in the field of food consumption. In particular, alternative food networks are enabling new food consumption models inspired by principles of participation and sustainability. The aim of this study was to explore how community supported agriculture farms create value for sustainability practices from both farmer and consumer perspectives in order to find new levers to engage consumers towards pursuing better food consumption models. Methods: A qualitative study was conducted following focused ethnography principles. Results: The results show that community supported agriculture is a complex concept based on the active participation of consumers as carers of economic, social, and environmental values. These values are all strongly connected, and together contribute to create an ecosystem where sustainable food practices can be promoted through a “learning by doing” process. Conclusions: This research offers new ways to re-connect and collaborate with consumers in the era of sustainable food consumption.

Factors Affecting the Dynamics of Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) Membership

Community supported agriculture (CSA) serves as a platform for local producers, especially for small size farms, to sell fresh, local products directly to its members. CSA is an important approach to promote local economic growth and contribute to sustainable agriculture. Although CSA is widely accepted across the United States, the total number of CSA membership is still very low. It is important to determine the factors that affect the future development of CSA because of its social and environmental benefits. In this study, we analyze how the motivation, barriers, and methods of advertisement influence the participation dynamics of CSA by segmenting consumers based on their past, current, and future CSA participation. Based on a national survey with 795 responses, the results show that the younger generation, high-income families, and people who support sustainable agriculture are more likely to renew their CSA subscription. CSA members are found to be very sensitive to the time of food distribution, the price of products, and the location of CSA farms. Moreover, the impacts of perceived barriers of CSA participation and advertisement method vary based on respondents’ membership status. This paper sheds light on factors that influence various consumer groups and offers a more dynamic analysis of CSA consumer behavior. This analysis enhances understanding of CSA members’ preferences and could help CSA programs expand in the future and to better promote local food systems and sustainable agriculture.

Community Supported Agriculture Farmers’ Perceptions of Management Benefits and Drawbacks

Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) is a direct partnership between producer(s) and a group of consumers/members to share the risks and responsibilities of farming activities. CSA aims at producing and providing environmentally, socially, economically, and nutritionally sustainable food. Past research has focused on CSA members’ motivations. This research aims to gain a better understanding of CSA farmers’ perceived benefits and drawbacks in managing a CSA farm, and whether CSA management perception varies in different countries. The research collected data from 35 farmers that were based in the United States (US) and Hungary (HU). Data elaboration includes a one-way Anova test, Chi-square test, principal component analysis, and multiple multivariate linear regressions. The results support that US and HU farmers have similar positive perceptions of CSA farming management, especially in food quality, nutritional value products, environmental, and community benefits. The main differences concentrate on economic, financial, and management perceptions. CSA success as an alternative agro-food production and distribution system relies on the capability to involve CSA members. Therefore, CSA farmers’ management skills may evolve to ensure the performance of communication and community engaging practices. The main CSA concern is ensuring a fair income and living wage for the farmers and labor force. There is a need for better balancing non-monetary and monetary benefits for the farmers.

Community-Supported Agriculture Marketing Performance: Results from Pilot Market Channel Assessments in Colorado

Due in large part to rising consumer interest, the number of farmers and ranchers selling through local food markets is growing. Community-supported agriculture (CSA) is a unique local food channel adopted by producers that was initially established as a strategy for producers to directly benefit from the season-long investments of buyers who align with their community-focused mission. Although the U.S. Department of Agriculture has long collected data to improve farm performance, information on specific marketing channels is missing, and in response, this research provides some of the first evidence of the heterogeneity of performance among CSAs. In a pilot approach to understanding the economics of CSAs relative to other direct marketing channels, we conducted an assessment process, incorporating 42 farms in Colorado between June 2016 and October 2017. Results showed that farms that incorporated CSA sales in their direct market portfolios tended to be smaller in scale and utilize more diverse markets. Although these CSA farms have lower average weekly sales, they have the highest average marketing profit margins compared to other direct market channels.

Retaining Members of Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) in California for Economic Sustainability: What Characteristics Affect Retention Rates?

Community supported agriculture (CSA) is one response to major ecological and social problems in the conventional agrifood system. Here we are concerned with how CSA management can enhance the economic sustainability of CSAs. More specifically, using a survey of 111 CSA farms in California, we analyze how specific variables in five domains—CSA management characteristics, farmer characteristics, farm characteristics, economic characteristics, and region—influence retention rates (the proportion of CSA members continuing from one year to the next). Our analysis involves first conducting bivariate correlations, then building a simple causal model that theorizes the direction of causation, then constructing a series of ordinary least squares (OLS) multiple regression models to hold constant independent variables. Our discussion draws out recommendations from our findings for CSA farmers and organizations that support CSA, including increasing the length of the season, increasing crop type diversity, including fruit in standard shares, bringing farming practices into line with organic standards, working with other CSAs to reduce inter-CSA competition, and changing marketing regions for farms in certain regions that appear to be highly saturated. We conclude by identifying more collective routes that CSAs can take to cultivate “CSA people” for a more sustainable economic dimension of CSAs in the long term.

Consumer-producer interactions in community-supported agriculture and their relevance for economic stability of the farm – An empirical study using an Analytic Hierarchy Process

Community-supported agriculture (CSA), a model associated with the movement of Alternative Food Networks (AFN), is gaining increasing attention from citizens and in policy. Many studies have identified the economic benefits of CSA for farmers. Some of them explain the economic benefits by closer social ties and the reciprocal relationship between consumers and producers. Up until now, a systematic study taking into account all social and institutional features of the relationship between consumers and producers and assessing their relevance for farm economic stability has been missing. The objective of our research is to investigate, which consumer-producer interactions (CPI) are most relevant for economic stability of a farm. In our study, we extend and implement an analytical framework of CPI, describing areas of interaction (CPI domains) as well as organisational procedures and rules of relationship (CPI properties). We apply this framework to use CPI as independent rational criteria in an Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP). An AHP is a mathematical method where experts evaluate different variables in pairs for each level of the hierarchical design. Our results show that CPI can be considered a key factor in CSA farm economic stability, because it could be seen as ways in which consumers empower the producer economically. In addition to consumer-producer interactions regarding classical production factors such as capital (‘financing’) and land, the surveyed experts identified the consideration of consumer needs regarding qualities and quantities of produce as a relevant stabilizing factor. From these results, we conclude direct collaboration with the consumers allows CSA farmers to gain greater independence from volatile markets, but increases their dependency on the shareholder group of consumers.

P2 - Boosting Farmer Sales Through Point of Purchase Home Food Preservation Education

Objective: The Point of Purchase (POP) Home Food Preservation Education project sought to increase sales and farm profitability by increasing consumer literacy and influencing POP consumer behaviors to preserve (e.g. freeze, can, dry) produce to increase local food access. Target Audience: Consumers at farmers' markets, Pick Your Own farms and Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) shareholders. Theory, Prior Research, Rationale: An electronic retrospective behavior survey was administered to participating consumers to assess their pre and post behaviors related to volume purchased and food preservation methods used as a result of “nudge” marketing and POP education. Description: Through trained Master Food Preserver volunteers and staff, the University of Maine Cooperative Extension partnered with two Pick Your Own farms, two CSA farms and three farmers' markets to offer “nudge” marketing and food preservation educational displays as an intervention to influence consumers' (n = 1,000) behaviors to: purchase more fresh fruits and vegetables to preserve, use the latest methods of food preservation to reduce foodborne illness risk, and increase farm profitability and sustainability. Evaluation: Analysis of the retrospective behavior survey indicated that 45% of consumers purchased more produce (strawberries, tomatoes, greens, green beans and apples) to preserve than they had in past growing seasons. Consumers identified freezing foods to prevent food waste as the biggest change in their food preservation behavior. Consumers also indicated greater adherence to USDA food preservation recommendations for acidification and proper processing. Conclusions and Implications: Economic sustainability of farms is a daily issue faced by farmers. Profitable farms are sustainable farms. Consumers and their purchasing power hold the key to directly impact the profit base for farmers. Our research documents positive shifts in consumer behaviors as a result of our POP intervention that ultimately impacts farm sustainability and profitability in Maine and Maine's local food system. Funding: Maine Food and Ag Center.

Beyond the market—New practices of supply in times of crisis: The example community‐supported agriculture

AbstractThe discourses and material consequences of the crisis dynamics of capitalist societies increasingly spawn practices of production and supply that are situated outside capitalist market logic. One example of such an alternative practice is Community‐Supported Agriculture (CSA), a social innovation that is comprehensively analyzed here in the German context. Applying the concept of social innovation, the authors carried out a standardized survey, semi‐structured interviews and a discourse analysis of CSA farms in Germany. This paper identifies the (international) crisis discourses to which Community‐Supported Agriculture is a reaction, and the motivations of CSA members are outlined. Innovative facets of CSA such as solidarity, de‐commodification, and prosuming are identified. It becomes apparent that Community‐Supported Agriculture is not a homogeneous phenomenon, but can be differentiated into various types ? sociopolitical, spiritual‐communal, and pragmatic‐economic ‐ which differ in respect of how they express (social) innovation as well as in their attitudes to crises.

Alternative Approaches to Food: Community Supported Agriculture in Urban China

One of the most remarkable features of China’s development path is its large-scale and fast-paced urbanization. As cities already accommodate more than half of China’s population, new challenges to urban food systems have emerged concurrently. Concerns over environmental degradation and food safety have provoked growing dissatisfaction with China’s food regime. Amidst these concerns, the aim of this paper is to study the role of new and alternative approaches to food, focusing in on the question of how community supported agriculture (CSA) can deal with the food-related issues emerging from China’s development. The paper adopts Granovetter’s notions of social embeddedness to describe CSA’s relational role in consumer-farmer dynamics, as well as the structural role within its broader relational context. Empirical data is drawn from surveys distributed among CSA farms, and interviews with key stakeholders in the Chinese CSA movement. The study finds that the model of CSA demonstrates an innovative approach to deal with food safety issues, address sustainability, and operate in an environment where future food demands are most critical. Although the movement’s structural embeddedness is bound by several limitations and contradictions, it is argued that the CSA model offers important insights and adds value into ameliorating China’s food systems.

Factors Affecting Current and Future CSA Participation

Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) is one of the widely used direct marketing strategies for small- and midsized farmers. CSA programs are an important option for sustainable production and consumption. It helps growers generate income (improve financial security) and consumers obtain fresh local foods. Sustaining and growing CSA participation is critical in order to continue enjoying these benefits. We used a national online survey in conjunction with discrete choice models to investigate the impact of demographic characteristics, lifestyle preferences, and different information outlets on the probability that a consumer is or will become a CSA member. The results indicate that the factors affecting current and future CSA participation differ substantially. While none of the demographic characteristics has a significant impact on current CSA participation, some of them significantly affect the probability that a consumer will become a CSA member in the future. Lifestyle preferences have a significant impact on current and future CSA participation. Although none of the information outlets examined affect current CSA participation, word-of-mouth and online sources significantly influence the probability that a consumer will join a CSA program in the future. These findings may have important implications for policy makers’ and CSA farm managers’ efforts to sustain future CSA development.

Lição: Algumas reflexões sobre agenciamento e atividade fora do sistema comercial.

Harrell Fletcher received his BFA from the San Francisco Art Institute and his MFA from California College of the Arts. He studied organic farming at UCSC and went on to work on a variety of small Community Supported Agriculture farms, which impacted his work as an artist. Fletcher has produced a variety of socially engaged collaborative and interdisciplinary projects since the early 1990’s. His work has been shown at SFMOMA, the de Young Museum, the Berkeley Art Museum, the Wattis Institute, and Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in the San Francisco Bay Area, The Drawing Center, Socrates Sculpture Park, The Sculpture Center, The Wrong Gallery, Apex Art, and Smackmellon in NYC, DiverseWorks and Aurora Picture show in Houston, TX, PICA in Portland, OR, CoCA and The Seattle Art Museum in Seattle, WA, Signal in Malmo, Sweden, Domain de Kerguehennec in France, The Tate Modern in London, and the National Gallery of Victoria in Melbourne, Australia. He was a participant in the 2004 Whitney Biennial. Fletcher has work in the collections of MoMA, The Whitney Museum, The New Museum, SFMOMA, The Hammer Museum, The Berkeley Art Museum, The De Young Museum, and The FRAC Brittany, France. From 2002 to 2009 Fletcher co-produced Learning To Love You More, a participatory website with Miranda July. Fletcher is the 2005 recipient of the Alpert Award in Visual Arts. His exhibition The American War originated in 2005 at ArtPace in San Antonio, TX, and traveled to Solvent Space in Richmond, VA, White Columns in NYC, The Center For Advanced Visual Studies MIT in Boston, MA, PICA in Portland, OR, and LAXART in Los Angeles among other locations. Fletcher is an Associate Professor of Art and Social Practice at Portland State University in Portland, Oregon. Fonte: http://www.harrellfletcher.com/?page_id=37

The pricing of community supported agriculture shares: evidence from New England

Purpose – Community supported agriculture (CSA) programs allow consumers to buy a share of a farm’s production while providing working capital and risk management benefits for farmers. Several different types of CSA arrangements have emerged in the market with terms varying in the degree to which consumers share in the farm’s risk. No-arbitrage principles of futures and options pricing suggest that CSA shares should be priced to reflect the degree of risk transfer. The paper aims to discuss these issues. Design/methodology/approach – The authors evaluate the three most common share types using a cross-sectional data set of 226 CSA farms from New England to determine if there is empirical evidence in support of the theoretical price relationship between share types. Findings – The degree of risk transfer from farmers to consumers has a significant effect on the share price. There are statistically significant returns to scale and higher prices for organics. Farm characteristics and product offerings predict which type of shares is offered for sale. Research limitations/implications – The data set does not contain information pertaining to actual deliveries, expected deliveries, variance of expected deliveries, or covariance information; thus differences in share prices could be due to differences in these uncontrolled factors. Originality/value – This paper provides empirical evidence that CSA share prices reflect the degree of risk transferred from the producer to the consumer. It also highlights challenges in conducting empirical work pertaining to CSA contracting.

Eroding the Community in Community Supported Agriculture (CSA): Competition's Effects in Alternative Food Networks in California

AbstractThe effects of competition within alternative food networks (AFNs) remain largely unexplored. Using a study of farms that operate Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) programmes in California, the state in the USA with the most CSAs, we empirically examine the effects of competition within alternative food networks. We conducted a statewide survey of CSA farmers in California, which collected data from 111 CSAs. For this analysis we construct a perceived competition index composed of variables that measure farmers' perceptions of competition with numerous market outlets and their being constrained in raising their prices due to competitive pressures. Our analysis shows that perceived competition is negatively correlated with CSA farms' profitability, farmers' satisfaction on a number of fronts, various indicators of the social embeddedness of CSA, and two community food security strategies. We conclude that competition is a real, although differential, phenomenon experienced by many CSA farmers in California, and that this competition impacts CSA in ways that undermine some of its commonly held values, especially fair farmer compensation and strong member‐farmer relationships.

Does Organic Command a Premium When the Food is Already Local?

The emergence of community supported agriculture (CSA) farms has been recognized as a new way for small farms to remain competitive while engaging in their local community through direct marketing. In this study, we report on first revealed preference valuation of CSA attributes using data on share prices and CSA characteristics for the summer 2012 growing season. Using data covering 453 CSA farms in Michigan, New York, Ohio, and Pennsylvania, we develop a hedonic model based on firm‐level prices to reveal consumer valuations of CSA attributes, including various types of organic certification. We also test for competition in the CSA market using a model of firm entry to evaluate whether firms appear perfectly competitive, which is a requirement when using firm‐level prices in our hedonic analysis. Our results reveal a price premium of approximately 7% for USDA organic certification, although this value is heterogeneous across states. We find no premium associated with competing certified naturally grown programs. Finally, we find that CSA farms exhibit little market power and appear to act competitively even with few market entrants.