Research & reports

Corey McAuliffe, Laura Whitaker, Aimee Webb Girard · The FASEB Journal · United States (Georgia)

Interviews with farmers' market managers, farmers, CSA managers, and a cooperative market manager in DeKalb County, Georgia, assessed challenges in local food accessibility. Qualitative data revealed significant financial barriers to production, prohibitive policies, and limitations in marketing and distribution systems. Environmental factors also limited the accessibility of local foods through farmers' markets and CSAs.

William E. Fry, M. T. McGrath, Abby Seaman, Thomas A. Zitter, A. McLeod, Giovanna Danies, Ian M. Small, Kevin Myers, Kathryne L. Everts, Amanda J. Gevens, Beth K. Gugino, Sara B. Johnson, Howard S. Judelson, Jean B. Ristaino, Pamela Roberts, Gary A. Secor, K. W. Seebold, K. Snover-Clift, A. Wyenandt, Niklaus J. Grünwald, Christine D. Smart · Plant Disease · United States

The 2009 tomato late blight pandemic in the eastern United States resulted in significant crop losses for many home gardeners and organic producers. This event led to widespread questions regarding its causes and differences from previous epidemics.

Joshua M. Davis · School for International Training Digital Collections (School for International Training) · United States

This paper evaluates the sustainability of the Market Basket (MB), a modified Community Supported Agriculture program run by Post Oil Solutions in Brattleboro, Vermont, USA, that provided local, fresh vegetables to low-income consumers at wholesale prices across two locations over two years, drawing on the author's experience as market coordinator, focus groups, interviews, and secondary data. Over 60 people participated in the MB during that period, and the paper argues the MB was an effective approach for increasing produce consumption, but issues affecting its sustainability remained unresolved — most notably funding to support a coordinator and increasing participation among generationally low-income consumers — with steps to address both currently underway.

Gary Paul Green, Michael L. Dougherty · Community Development · United States (Door County, Wisconsin)

This paper examined culinary tourism through a case study of the Kingdom So Delicious program in Door County, Wisconsin. The analysis was based on intensive interviews with owners/managers of four restaurants and surveys of 30 retailers and 40 farmers in the region. The most frequently cited concerns with producing for local establishments involved in culinary tourism were low prices and challenging logistics.

Craig J. Thompson, Gökçen Coskuner-Balli · Journal of Consumer Research · Global

This paper argues that the corporatization of the organic food movement, typically seen as co-optation, can instead generate a countervailing market response. This response actively promotes the oppositional aspects of a counterculture that are attenuated by commercial mainstreaming. The study analyzes community-supported agriculture (CSA) as an example of this response to corporate co-optation.

Emma Lea, Jodi Phillips, Madeleine Ward, Anthony Worsley · Ecology of Food and Nutrition · Australia (Victoria)

This qualitative study interviewed 20 consumers and 12 farmers in Victoria, Australia, to examine their knowledge, perceived benefits, and barriers regarding Community Supported Agriculture (CSA). The study found that knowledge of CSA was limited among both groups. Consumers perceived fresh food as a benefit but cited lack of produce choice as a barrier, while farmers saw financial benefits but were concerned about risk-sharing.

Patricia Allen, Julie Guthman, Amy Wilson Morris · eScholarship (California Digital Library) · United States (California)

A research brief examining whether alternative food initiatives (AFIs) such as community supported agriculture (CSA) and farmers' markets can meet the food security needs of low-income consumers, based on interviews and surveys of farmers' market and CSA managers throughout California. The authors conclude that AFIs are not, and cannot be, substitutes for state entitlements in meeting the food security needs of low-income people.

Jan Perez · eScholarship (California Digital Library) · United States (California)

This 2003 research brief investigated the experiences of Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) growers on the central coast of California. The study examined their motivations, economic viability, challenges, and issues related to equal access to their products. The research brief indicates that challenges and issues of equal access are present in CSA projects.

Sigrid Stagl, Sabine O’Hara · International Journal of Agricultural Resources Governance and Ecology · United States (New York City)

This study examined whether Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) groups are a broadly accepted or limited alternative food system, based on a household survey in two distinct socio-economic neighborhoods in upstate New York. The survey found that approximately 25% of respondents expressed interest in becoming CSA members, with similar interest levels in both wealthier and low-income areas. However, several factors preventing food demand through CSAs were identified, indicating that these barriers would need to be addressed for expansion.

C. Clare Hinrichs, Kathy S. Kremer · Journal of Poverty · United States

This 1997 case study examined a Midwest community supported agriculture (CSA) project that aimed to increase low-income participation through financial subsidies, using a telephone survey of 41 member-households. The study found that while subsidized households had lower incomes, the overall CSA sample was more advantaged in income, occupation, and education compared to local populations. The project inadvertently served the "advantaged" poor, indicating that social inclusion efforts in local food systems may not effectively reach the most vulnerable.

Cynthia A. Cone, Andrea Myhre · Human Organization · Global

A five-year study of eight Community-Supported Agriculture (CSA) farms examined farm members' perceptions and behavior, including motivations for membership and women's roles. The study raises questions about the long-term sustainability of CSA, citing tension between farmers' lifestyles and needs, and shareholders' constraints and competing values.

Joshua J. Cousins · · United States (Oregon)

This qualitative study examined local food networks in Washington County, Oregon, focusing on small-scale agricultural landscapes and farmers selling through farmers markets or CSAs. It explored farmers' concerns about urbanization, farmland preservation, and their difficulties participating in local food networks. The research concluded that local food sold through alternative venues can help preserve and develop specific farm sites.

Richard L. Farnsworth, Saråhelen Thompson, Kathleen A. Drury, Richard E. Warner, Farnsworth, Richard L., Thompson, Sarahelen R., Drury, Kathleen A., Warner, Richard E. · AgEcon Search (University of Minnesota, USA) · Global

This research suggests that social objectives primarily drive CSA shareholders' decisions to join, with economic and "club-related" objectives being secondary. While the CSA movement is expected to grow, its emphasis on social objectives, inability to supply food year-round, and the development of size-neutral organic technologies will likely prevent it from becoming a major market channel in the next century.

Lee M · PubMed · Ethiopia

In Ethiopia, urban agriculture faces significant challenges due to government disapproval of public land use for farming and difficulty in obtaining credit. A 1983 survey in Addis Ababa found that 17% of 1352 households produced their own food on less than 25 sq. meters, with 90% of non-farmers citing lack of land. Despite urban agricultural cooperatives demonstrating 70% higher member income, their lack of government legalization prevents access to loans for productivity improvement.