an introduction to community supported agriculture (csa)

First introduced in Japan and Switzerland in the 1970s, community supported agriculture (CSA) is a form of partnership between farmer and consumer.  They enter into a contract which provides consumers with a certain number of ‘shares’ in the farm. Each share provides the consumer a box (or bag or bucket or …) of vegetables or other products at a regular interval. 

There are four basic components of a CSA:

1. Partnership: a mutual agreement between the producer and the consumer is established for the growing season
2. Local Production: the exchange is local, i.e. a part of the community, in order to facilitate the relocalizing of the human-food relationship
3. Solidarity: a unifying relationship is developed that is beneficial to both producer and consumer
4. A Producer/Consumer Tandem: the direct person-to-person relationship, i.e. no intermediaries or hierarchies, is established

The establishment and execution of a CSA have several benefits and challenges for producers and consumers that are summarized below.

Challenges	Opportunities
Producers Potential for a bad worth of mouth Increased management requirements Time demands → customer relations Packaging and distribution costs Consumers May feel like they are not getting their money’s worth Lack of choice May be expensive ‘Long-term’ commitment Short shelf life (no preservatives) A significant amount of produce that requires cooking	Producers Marketing before the growing season Consistent cash flow Development of customer relationships → loyalty Shared risk Cuts out the ‘middleman’ Little capital investment Word of mouth advertising Consumers Access to super fresh produce Development of relationship with producer Contact with the farm Society Reduced environmental impact of food(?)

For the implementation of a successful CSA, the participants – both farmers and consumers – must have the ‘right’ type of personality, i.e. committed and patient. However, if such a relationship can be established, CSAs are a very viable marketing strategies that can be used by small farmers to remain competitive in an environment largely dominated by industrialized agriculture.

sources:

http://www1.agric.gov.ab.ca/$department/deptdocs.nsf/all/agdex3482?opendocument
http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/fy597