Research & reports

Sarah Legg · Figshare · United States (Wyoming)

ACRES Student Farm, a University of Wyoming organization, has grown significantly over six years, providing local produce, CSA shares, composting, and educational opportunities. However, the farm suffers from continuous losses in efficiency and acquired knowledge due to the transient nature of its student management and workforce, leading to unsustainable internal functioning. This project aims to develop a management plan and handbook to address these issues and improve the farm's operational efficiency.

Brînduşa Bîrhală, Judith Möllers, Bîrhală, Brînduşa, Möllers, Judith · 2014 International Congress, August 26-29, 2014, Ljubljana, Slovenia · Romania

This study investigates Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) in Romania as a viable rural innovation for small-scale farms and consumers. Based on three case studies of pioneering CSA farmers in Western Romania, the research found that consumers are motivated by value-based considerations like healthy diets, while farmers find CSA attractive for price premiums and market access. Both farmers and consumers engage in CSA partnerships to compensate for market failures.

Cristina Connolly, H. Allen Klaiber · American Journal of Agricultural Economics · United States

This study used a hedonic model with firm-level prices and CSA characteristics from 453 CSA farms in Michigan, New York, Ohio, and Pennsylvania during the summer 2012 growing season to value CSA attributes. Results showed a price premium of approximately 7% for USDA organic certification, though this varied by state, but no premium for competing certified naturally grown programs. CSA farms exhibited little market power and appeared to act competitively.

Alexandra Jeanne Hiniker · Digital Commons - Hamline (Hamline University) · United States

This study surveyed Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) farms in Minnesota, asking farm owners and operators about demographics, farm specifics, and marketing practices. Results indicate that Minnesota's CSA community is robust and diverse in its offerings. It was found that face-to-face communication is preferred above all else to support farm activities.

Brînduşa Bîrhală, Judith Möllers, Bîrhală, Brînduşa, Möllers, Judith · AgEcon Search (University of Minnesota, USA) · Romania

This study investigated Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) in Romania, focusing on costs and benefits for both farmers and consumers in three pioneering CSA groups offering organic vegetables to contracted consumers in the western part of the country. It found that consumers are typically urban dwellers with higher education and income, prioritizing organic-quality fresh products over solidarity, which is a value aspired by the initiating NGO. Farmers' main motivation for CSA involvement is the need for a stable market with fair prices, indicating that both parties use CSA to compensate for market failures.

Jean Lagane · HAL (Le Centre pour la Communication Scientifique Directe) · France

This paper examines the challenges of food provisioning in Marseille due to global food networks and environmental issues like global warming and metropolization. A three-year ethnographic study of the "Marche du Cours Julien" in Marseille explored how citizens revived local farmers' markets and promoted bottom-up ecologization. The study also analyzed the links between the Cours Julien farmers' market, which hosts a French Community-supported agriculture (CSA), and the development of Alternative Food Networks and Short Food Supply Chains.

Travis P. Marcotte · Journal of Agricultural & Food Information · United States

An article based on a speech by Travis Marcotte, Executive Director of the Intervale Center in Vermont, USA, recounts the Center's innovation and leadership over more than 25 years, spanning agricultural land reclamation, Community Supported Agriculture, riparian restoration, and large-scale composting through to farm incubation, food hubs, and community celebrations of local food. It also describes the Center's response to climate change, environmental healing, and efforts to connect people with good food and the benefits of a healthier food system.

Judith Moellers, Brînduşa Bîrhală · OpenAgrar · Europe

Three cases of Community Supported Agriculture launched for the first time in western Romania were analyzed for the costs and benefits experienced by participating farmers and consumers. Farmers deliver organically grown vegetables directly to private contract partners; consumers were characterized by value-based attitudes such as belief in healthy nutrition and concern about synthetic pesticides and fertilizers, while farmers were driven more by economic considerations — market access itself and higher prices. Both farmers and consumers used the partnership to compensate for market failure.

Zsófia Benedek · Econstor (Econstor) · Europe

A literature review of international research on short food supply chains (SFSC) and their impacts, combined with findings on the types already established in Hungary. SFSC consumers tend to be more highly educated than average; traditional forms such as farmers' markets attract older people while newer forms such as community-supported agriculture and web-based value chains attract younger people. The review finds that clear scientific evidence of SFSCs' positive environmental, social or economic impact is not always available, and in some cases traditional food supply chains prove cheaper and more environmentally beneficial, concluding there is no generally preferable SFSC solution given their heterogeneity.

Liang Da · Shipin yanjiu yu kaifa · Global

A conceptual paper (Shipin yanjiu yu kaifa, 2014) analyzes the function and mechanism of Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) from a food-safety perspective, framing CSA as a response to environmental problems associated with intensive traditional agriculture. It discusses CSA's development prospects and proposes alternative approaches for green, ecological, leisure-oriented agriculture, without presenting empirical data or numeric findings.

Oliver Moore, Olive McCarthy, Noreen Byrne, Michael Ward · Journal of Agriculture Food Systems and Community Development · Europe

This paper examines one of the earliest and most prominent community supported agriculture (CSA) initiatives in Ireland, focusing on its organizational restructuring under productivity pressure. CSA is built on sharing risk and reward, and some uncertainty is treated as acceptable, but in this case the realized risk of insufficient produce, once pushed to its limits, became in fact unacceptable to members. The process by which this member-owned and member-operated CSA critically self-assessed and restructured after this shortfall is termed "reflexive resilience" — a description of an initiative that had to acknowledge a real produce shortfall and rebuild, not merely one that anticipated shocks in the abstract.

Feng Yanmi · Yunnan Nongye Daxue xuebao · China

A discussion paper examines the concept of Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) and its role in the integrated, sustainable development of urban and rural areas in China, against the backdrop of the country's urban-rural dual structure, farmland loss and ecological damage from urban expansion, peasants losing land, and food safety concerns. It frames CSA's model, in which producers and consumers form a partnership through advance payment or participation in production and share profits and losses, as promoting organic production and mutual cooperation with economic, ecological and social benefits.

Michela Felicetti · Advanced engineering forum · Italy

A paper examining whether the food hub concept can be applied to the Piana di Sibari area of Calabria, Italy, designated a Quality Agrifood District (DAQ) under regional law. After identifying features of the food hub concept within the area's largest cooperative, the paper argues that this arrangement represents an opportunity for small farmers to access conventional food supply chains from which they would otherwise be excluded. It frames food hubs as a hybrid of alternative and conventional food networks and, notably, as a way to address the economic viability problem faced by local food initiatives such as community-supported agriculture (CSA)—that is, the paper's premise is that CSA-type local food initiatives struggle to be economically viable on their own.

Ryan E. Galt · Economic Geography · United States (California)

A study of 54 Community-Supported Agriculture (CSA) farms in California's Central Valley used qualitative and quantitative data to explain farmers' earnings. An ordinary least squares regression analysis revealed that farmers' age, number of employees, and CSA type strongly influence earnings. The study found that the moral economy of CSA often results in self-exploitation due to farmers' strong sense of obligation to members, despite allowing for economic rents.

A. Bryan Endres, Rachel Armstrong · · United States

This article discusses Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) and 'community labor,' where customers participate in food production on farms. It highlights a paradox: traditional employment law, envisioning autonomous competition, makes little room for these novel relationships, potentially undermining CSA values and limiting its viability and growth. The authors suggest that employment law should develop a more nuanced view of relationships in the CSA context, supporting mutual gain and shared values over competition-based rules.

Weiping Chen · British Food Journal · China (Beijing)

This research conceptualized and validated a construct of perceived value in Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) and investigated its influence on consumer satisfaction and loyalty. The study used a sample of 198 consumers from five CSA farms in Beijing, China, applying partial least squares (PLS) for analysis. Findings indicate that perceived value in CSA is a formative, multi-dimensional, third-order construct, with a direct positive effect on consumer loyalty and an indirect effect mediated by consumer satisfaction.

Kynda R. Curtis, Ruby Ward, K. Eileen Allen, Susan L. Slocum, Curtis, Kynda, Ward, Ruby, Allen, Karin, Slocum, Susan · AgEcon Search (University of Minnesota, USA) · Global

This study aims to explore the effects of Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) program membership on consumer dietary choice and nutritional intake. It also investigates potential modifications in food purchase, preparation, and dining out practices among participants. The research addresses a gap in understanding how CSA participation might lead to attitude and behavioral changes, which could inform public policy for dietary improvements.

Vanna Gonzales, Nigel Forrest, Noreen Balos · Journal of Community Positive Practices · United States (Arizona)

This paper presents the first known case study of Gila Farm Cooperative (GFC), a U.S.-based marketing cooperative formed by refugees from different ethnic and cultural backgrounds. Founded in 2011 by the Phoenix International Refugee Committee, GFC has 22 members supporting Community Supported Agriculture in central Arizona. This three-month study, conducted in spring 2012, provided a descriptive analysis of GFC's structure and operational processes through participatory observation and in-depth interviews.

Adam Prince · · United States (California)

This chapter considers movements to transform the food system in the United States. In Oakland, California, a growing community of urban food producers and advocates is working to address food insecurity in historically underserved communities. Diverse enclaves in Oakland exhibit various forms of community-based food production, ranging from windowsill herb patches to rooftop projects and distributed farming networks utilizing vacant lots.

Kelsey Hall, Courtney Meyers, David L. Doerfert, Cindy Akers, Phillip Johnson · Journal of Applied Communications · United States (Texas)

This mixed-methods study explored how Texas CSA shareholders received local food information and how CSA owners recruited and retained members, given retention rates of 20-70% nationwide. Data from an online survey of three Texas CSAs and interviews with owners showed shareholders preferred daily/weekly information searches via websites and interpersonal communication. Owners used local media, events, and word-of-mouth for recruitment, and weekly email newsletters for retention.

王冬灵, Genxu Wang, 车生泉 · 上海交通大学学报：农业科学版 · China (Shanghai)

This article discusses the feasibility and optimization design of Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) type urban agricultural tourism parks in China, using Chongming Happy Farm in Shanghai as an example. It analyzes issues to consider when developing such parks and explores design optimizations across five aspects: agricultural production systems, tourism systems, overall layout, functional spatial structure, and operation management. The study suggests that CSA-type urban agricultural tourism parks can optimize urban agricultural tourism development and expand suburban agricultural development paths.

Marisa DeCandido · Syracuse University Libraries (Syracuse University) · United States (New York City)

This project describes the "green sisters" movement and its presence at Homecoming Farm, a Community-Supported Agriculture project in Amityville, New York. The green sisters movement involves Catholic nuns dedicated to environmental education and sustainability, exemplified by Homecoming Farm, an organic farm created in 1992 by the Sisters of Saint Dominic. The story is presented through a five-part news series, based on six visits and interviews with eleven individuals at Homecoming Farm in the summer and fall of 2012.

Atănăsoaie George Sebastian · Annals - Economy Series · Global

Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) farms are an alternative to conventional agriculture but face numerous policy issues related to product, price, distribution, and promotion. A literature review indicated that farmers need to offer more flexible basket content in terms of quantity and product type, and consumers require information on product preparation and preservation. To offset the negative impact of high prices, measures such as cost reduction, flexible payment rescheduling, and compensation for financial resource deficits are necessary.

Kynda R. Curtis, Voravee Chakreeyarat, J. Dominique Gumirakiza · Digital Commons - USU (Utah State University) · Global

The concept of Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) programs, also known as Subscription Farming, first originated in Japan in the 1960s. This concept was later introduced to the U.S. in the 1980s.

Hermann Pohlmann · Palíndromo · Global

This abstract considers the possibility of transforming the space depicted by 19th-century landscape painters in a plastic-social way, making it a global work of art that can be experienced. It aims not for a space to escape urban centers, but to achieve a true global work of art.