Mercantilização & contramovimento: agricultura sustentada pela comunidade (CSA): estudo de caso em Minas Gerais, Brasil

Urban Farm DB summary

A 2020 case study of the CSA (community supported agriculture) organization "CSA Alfa" in Minas Gerais, Brazil, using Karl Polanyi's theoretical framework. It frames CSA as a movement that repositions agricultural production around fair-trade and agroecological principles through short chains linking production and consumption, and finds that market exchange and reciprocity coexist as different regulatory principles within CSA Alfa. Friendship, tolerance, loyalty, and commitment build a communal ethos around food, and the study argues CSA acts as a counter-movement to commodification by strengthening participants' relative autonomy and raising social cohesion among participating groups.