Database research record2016·United Kingdom
Greater than the Sum of the Parts? Unpacking Ethics of Care within a Community Supported Agriculture Scheme
Rosie Cox, Moya Kneafsey, Lewis Holloway, Elizabeth Dowler, Laura Venn
Urban Farm DB summary
This chapter introduces the concept of Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) and positions it within the literature on local food, moral economies, and ethics of care. Using the case of EarthShare, the longest-running CSA in Britain, founded in Forres, Scotland in 1994, it argues that by exposing differences in members' priorities, local food systems can be seen as sites of political potential despite not being perfect or free from conflict. CSAs are presented as offering opportunities to strengthen place-based community relationships between growers and eaters, characterized as a form of caring practice in food production and consumption.