Research & reports

Károly Kacz · Annals of the Polish Association of Agricultural and Agribusiness Economists · Europe

A study analyzed the distribution of local products through short food supply chains (SFSCs) in Hungary, focusing on farmer markets and Community Supported Agriculture systems, using data from multiple databases. Both traditional and neo-traditional SFSC forms were found to be viable in Hungary, but as in other Central and Eastern European countries, traditional SFSC types—particularly local farmer markets—remain dominant in numbers; the study concludes that forming and supporting neo-traditional organizations is useful for exploiting the potential of short supply chains.

Zoë Plakias, Iryna Demko, Ani L. Katchova · Renewable Agriculture and Food Systems · United States

Using the 2015 Local Food Marketing Practices Survey, collected by the USDA in 2016, and binomial and multinomial logit regressions, this study examined which farm and farmer characteristics predict participation in direct marketing channels and the choice of particular channel combinations among US farmers. It found evidence of product-specific barriers to participation in certain channels: livestock producers were less likely than other farmers to sell directly to retailers, while vegetable farmers were less likely to sell to intermediaries. Beginning farmers were more likely than established farmers to sell directly to retailers but less likely to sell to intermediaries.

Antonella Samoggia, Chiara Perazzolo, Piroska Kocsis, Margherita Del Prete · Sustainability · United States

Drawing on data from 35 Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) farmers based in the United States and Hungary, this study used one-way ANOVA, chi-square tests, principal component analysis, and multiple multivariate linear regressions to examine how farmers perceive the benefits and drawbacks of managing a CSA farm, and whether that perception differs across the two countries. US and Hungarian farmers held broadly similar positive perceptions of CSA management, particularly regarding food quality, nutritional value, environmental benefits, and community benefits, while the main differences between the two groups centered on economic, financial, and management perceptions. The study concludes that CSA success depends on the ability to involve members, that farmers' management skills need to develop to sustain communication and community-engagement practices, and that the central concern for CSA is ensuring farmers and labor receive fair income and a living wage, requiring a better balance between monetary and non-monetary benefits.

Suzanne Stapleton · Journal of Agricultural & Food Information · Global

An article introduces the "4/5 paradox" in global food production: 80% of food is produced by family farmers, while at the same time 80% of the world's hungry and malnourished people are family farmers and their children. It concerns Urgenci, the international network of Community Supported Agriculture, though the available abstract is truncated and gives no further detail.

V. Yarovyi, О. В. Фраєр · Ukrainian society · Europe

This paper examines how Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) has formed, and what models and forms it has taken, in various countries, synthesizing this foreign experience from the perspective of implementing CSA in Ukraine. It discusses the preconditions for CSA's development, the incentives that lead producers and consumers to join CSA, and the conditions needed for its social and economic efficiency.

Daniele Eckert Matzembacher, Fábio Bittencourt Meira · British Food Journal · Brazil

This exploratory case study investigated two Brazilian Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) initiatives over two years and six months using participant observation, ethnography, interviews, and secondary data. It found that the analyzed CSA activities integrate social, environmental, and economic sustainability dimensions, providing guaranteed sales and higher incomes for producers, and emphasizing sustainability education for consumers. The findings cannot be extrapolated to broader populations due to the exploratory nature of the study.

Mark Paul · Journal of Agrarian Change · United States (Massachusetts)

This paper evaluates the livelihoods of Community-Supported Agriculture (CSA) farmers in the Connecticut River Valley of Massachusetts from their perspective. Results indicate that while CSA farmers earn more farm income than other U.S. farms on average, they still earn far below the median national income and generally fail to earn a living wage. Despite these economic findings, farmers stressed the importance of broader social, ecological, and economic benefits to farming. The study concludes that CSA has largely failed to provide adequate livelihoods for farmers to date.

Laura M. Van Oers, Wouter Boon, Ellen H.M. Moors · Environmental Innovation and Societal Transitions · Netherlands

This study investigated how grassroots organizations, specifically Dutch Community-Supported Agriculture (CSA), construct legitimacy for their survival. It found that CSAs predominantly work to garner legitimacy from their members, and that survival seems associated with social capital building. A moralization of food provision was observed, which explains why new and possibly inconvenient terms of exchange still amass legitimacy. As external audiences remain at a distance, they often misunderstand CSA, its deliverables, and impacts on social welfare.

Christiana Lackner · KiltHub Repository · Global

This project explored new ways for designers to model human behavior by using social practices, an approach relatively unexplored in design. It extended social practice models into service design to create tools and approaches that support the development of social practices. Community Supported Agriculture (CSA), a system where community members buy shares from local farmers for weekly produce, was used as a case study to test these new approaches.

Gregory Astill, Darlington Sabasi, Johnson Gwatipedza, Astill, G., Sabasi, D., Gwatipedza, J. · AgEcon Search (University of Minnesota, USA) · United States

This study examined the relationship between direct marketing strategies and technical efficiency among U.S. farmers using stochastic frontier analysis. On average, farmers employing direct marketing strategies were found to be less technically efficient than those who do not. However, for the largest quantile of growers, direct marketing users were more technically efficient.

Kota OGUCHI · The Annals of Japan Association for Urban Sociology · Japan (Saitama City)

This article studies the impact of coordinators for Community-Supported Agriculture (CSA) programs, using the Kome Mame project in Saitama City, Japan, as a case study. The Kome Mame project is a collaborative effort involving organic farms, a for-profit company, and an NPO, where the NPO coordinates matchmaking between farmers and companies, builds mechanisms for distribution channel development, and facilitates human-resource exchanges and stakeholder relationships. The study suggests that the coordinator's role as a manager of the relationship between food and agriculture will become increasingly important, and the challenge is whether this role can be established as a socially recognized profession.

Agni Kalfagianni, Sophia Skordili · · Global

This book explores the potential of short food supply chains (SFSCs) to address environmental, social, and economic challenges in the global agri-food system. It demonstrates that SFSCs, including farmers' markets and community-supported agriculture, offer innovative forms of collective action for local sustainable transformations. The book concludes that alternatives to the dominant agri-food system are possible and thriving, but require concerted effort and collaboration to realize their full potential.

Károly Kacz, Ádám Varga · Annals of the Polish Association of Agricultural and Agribusiness Economists · Europe

A survey in the Western Transdanubia region investigated major problems in Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) within short food supply chains, involving farmer organizations and consumers. The analysis identified the insufficient market power of CSA organizations as the most influential factor. This finding suggests a significant constraint on the effectiveness of CSA models in the region.

G. R. SCHMIDT · · Global

This chapter discusses the role of urban and community-supported agriculture (CSA) in developed countries, noting that these initiatives, while struggling, contribute to nutrition, personal agency, values, and green education. It also addresses the less immediate connections between wild regional resources, wild biodiversity, and their potential for agricultural innovation and nutrition.

Annie Svensson · · Sweden

This research investigated the economic sustainability of 14 Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) farms in Sweden through interviews. The study found that Swedish CSA farms had difficulties covering labor costs and suffered from inefficiency, indicating weak economic sustainability. The study did not identify specific approaches or business models that were more conducive to higher profitability.

Rosario Michel‐Villarreal, Martin Hingley, Ilenia Bregoli · Lincoln Repository (University of Lincoln) · Global

This systematic literature review aims to clarify the concept of Alternative Food Networks (AFNs) by conducting a thematic analysis of academic definitions. The literature indicates a lack of clarity regarding AFNs, which are often defined by what they are not, rather than what they are. The study seeks to address this knowledge gap and contribute to theory and empirical development.

Jennifer Sumner · Sustainability · Global

This article reviews and synthesizes literature on food, leisure, sustainability, and community economic development to answer whether we can eat our way to sustainability. It begins with John Loxley's approach to community economic development and links the concept of sustainability with McMurtry’s civil commons. The article examines examples of food-related leisure activities like community gardens, CSAs, gleaning, and community kitchens, concluding that sustainability can be achieved if we choose activities that also enable others to eat.

Jonathan Beacham · Organization · United Kingdom

This ethnographic study explored three community supported agriculture schemes in the north-west of England to understand how Alternative Food Networks (AFNs) can foster a more-than-human ethic of care for the Anthropocene. Drawing on the diverse economies framework and feminist ethics of care literature, the study argues that AFNs offer open-ended organizational forms that can play a central role in this endeavor.

Brian Elliott · Environmental Ethics · United States

This paper argues that Portland, Oregon's thriving urban agriculture scene, despite its reputation for sustainability, should be viewed as an adjunct to advanced neoliberal urban governance rather than a resistance movement against it. It critiques recent case studies that suggest the social sustainability of urban agriculture remains an open question, asserting that this view lacks a critical urban geography perspective. The study concludes that urban agriculture in Portland, on the whole, contributes to uneven development and gentrification.

Timothy J. Kidd · Great Plains research · United States (Iowa)

Based on qualitative research conducted from 2008 to 2012 in Iowa, this book illustrates the complexities and challenges faced by small farms producing local foods in a commodity-driven state. It provides case studies on the difficulties in balancing small farm profitability and social impacts for those involved in community-supported agriculture, farmers' markets, and farm-to-school produce. The research also reveals that popular assumptions about local food, including consumers becoming informed advocates for sustainable agriculture, are oversimplifications.

Jun‐Hong Chen, Zhifeng Gao, Lisha Zhang, Chen, Junhong, Gao, Zhifeng, Zhang, Lisha · 2018 Annual Meeting, February 2-6, 2018, Jacksonville, Florida · United States

This study applied quantitative methods to identify barriers that prohibit CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) participation or factors affecting unsubscribe from CSA membership. Based on 780 responses collected from a national consumer survey, only 6% of the total sample were current CSA members. The top two reasons for unsubscribing from CSA membership were preferring farmer's markets and not cooking at home. On the other hand, the top two important factors for participation in CSA were supporting local and family farms.

Laura Carlsona, Vera Bitsch, Carlsona, Laura, Bitsch, Vera · AgEcon Search (University of Minnesota, USA) · Germany

This study used a grounded theory approach to examine the importance of solidarity in four alternative food network (AFN) projects in former East Germany, including two community supported agriculture projects, one cooperative grocery, and one urban agriculture project. Data were collected through document analysis and participant observation. Results indicate that although solidarity is explicitly mentioned by actors and in official documents, its conception and implementation vary across initiatives, influenced by individuals, local conditions, and external institutions.

Amber Heckelman · Journal of Agriculture Food Systems and Community Development · United States

This book consolidates decades of research on the local food movement in the U.S. Midwest and Appalachia regions. It analyzes the diverse capacities and limitations of enterprises such as farmers markets, community supported agriculture (CSA), and food hubs, and offers a framework for assessing local food initiatives. The book aims to support the cultivation and expansion of local food systems by identifying strengths, weaknesses, and leverage points.

Ronaldo Tavares de Souza, Eduardo de Lima Caldas · Estudos Sociedade e Agricultura · Global

Based on a systematic review of 45 articles, this study examined how alternative food networks can foster social capital development. The review identified five types of networks: own production, basket schemes, direct sales, community supported agriculture, and solidarity purchase groups. Reflection on observed examples indicated that groups formed by consumers showed the greatest potential for social capital development, followed by producer-started groups, basket schemes, and finally, production for self-consumption.

Amit Salunke, Ms. Shradha Shinde, Ms. Aishwarya Tone · International Journal for Research in Applied Science and Engineering Technology · Global

A web and Android e-Community Supported Agriculture (e-CSA) system was developed using the software development life cycle. A survey on the impact of local agricultural products through this application indicated benefits for both customers and farmers. Customers gain fair prices, fresh organic products, and access to rare items, while farmers can increase sales, minimize loss, and improve transportation control, contributing to local economic growth.