Research & reports

Hal Crimmel · ISLE Interdisciplinary Studies in Literature and Environment · Global

Daniel Philippon's latest book examines the production, processing, and consumption of sustainable food, focusing on the prolific work of agricultural writer Wendell Berry, Italian Slow Food advocate Carlo Petrini, and chef and writer Alice Waters. The book explores the central question: "How did nonfiction writing, as exemplified by the work of these three authors, shape the sustainable food movement?" Philippon's experience volunteering on a Wisconsin CSA farm provides context for probing Berry's ideas about agricultural practices.

Matthias Middendorf, Christian Herzig · Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems · Global

This study conceptualizes the diversity of Economic Actors striving for Food Sovereignty (EAFS) at the organizational level through an integrative literature review of 108 publications. It proposes a framework with three themes: conditions shaping EAFS, their economic-related characteristics along the agri-food supply chain, and their organizational-related characteristics. The framework reveals that EAFS combine alternative and conventional elements in varying configurations, highlighting food sovereignty as a multifaceted organizational phenomenon.

Lena Schmeiduch, Émile Thévenot · International Review of Education · Global

This study explored the potential for lifelong learning within sustainability-led initiatives, such as ecovillages and community-supported agriculture, through the theoretical lens of Noah Sobe's four pillars of lifelong education. While these initiatives offer opportunities to address sustainability-related challenges, their insular nature and limited accessibility have drawn criticism in the literature on sustainability transitions. The analysis suggests that these initiatives and lifelong learning agendas frequently converge in their framing of sustainability issues.

Stefan Galley, Stefan Mann, Patrick Bottazzi · Societies · Switzerland

A survey of Swiss allotment garden (AG, n=201) and community-supported agriculture (CSA, n=250) members revealed how prosumers perceive the benefits of their activity and how these experiences shape their likelihood to continue. AGs enhance production-related individual benefits, while CSAs foster positive experiences around consumption activities. AG continuation is driven by experienced health and food-related benefits, whereas CSAs rely on the communal and organizational involvement of their members.

S. GopalaSundara Raj, Halavath Tharunkumar, R. P. Srivastava, Mukesh Kumar Singh, Manindra Nath Upadhyay · Asian Journal of Environment & Ecology · Global

This study explores the economic and environmental benefits of green cultivation, encompassing organic farming, community-supported agriculture, and sustainable land use. Economically, it offers increased profitability, improved market opportunities, and enhanced food security, while environmentally, it supports biodiversity, improves soil health, and reduces greenhouse gas emissions. Case studies from Spain and Egypt demonstrate the effectiveness of these sustainable farming methods.

Bernd Bonfert · · Global

A brief reference entry describing community-supported agriculture (CSA) as a collaborative grassroots innovation in which farmers and consumers share the costs and outputs of food production. It states that by joining a CSA, consumers agree to cover the costs of a farming operation over a defined period, in exchange for a share of the harvest.

Siu Hou Chong, Paw Lan Tai, Chen Yee Teh, Siao Hoong Sam, Ning Hii, Jia Yi Tan, M D Isa M. Saffiuddin, Jia Hao Lau, Chee Yuan Ng, Chiou Woan Leng · World sustainability series · Malaysia

This is a case description of Koperasi Kongsi Selangor Berhad (Kongsi Co-op), a Malaysian consumer co-operative. The co-op connects local producers and consumers through community-supported agriculture and community-supported education, promoting organic farming, sustainable practices, ethical business, and lifelong learning. It reports having overcome financial and resource constraints by building an internal culture and network.

Stefan Galley, Rita Saleh, Patrick Bottazzi · Cleaner and Responsible Consumption · Global

This between-subjects online experiment examined how information about the benefits of Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) shapes non-members' perception of those benefits, their perceived relevance, and willingness to join, alongside trust, subjective knowledge, sustainable food shopping behavior, political orientation, and sociodemographics. 754 respondents were randomly assigned to six groups: five each exposed to information on one benefit (nutritional, sustainability, solidarity, transparency, or community), plus a control group. Regardless of the information given, farmers were perceived to benefit most from CSA, followed by society, then the individual; participants themselves ranked individual benefits and environmental sustainability as most important, followed by solidarity with farmers, transparency, and community. Higher perceived overall CSA benefit was associated with higher willingness to join. Information on solidarity, nutrition, and community was most effective for young, educated, and often female respondents, while nutrition-focused information reached environmentally conscious, conservative consumers; information on nutrition and environmental sustainability produced the highest willingness to join overall.

Sarah Steinegger, Nora Katharina Faltmann · Journal of Political Ecology · Global

A qualitative study of a Community-Supported Agriculture (CSA) initiative in Switzerland that links a rural mountain area with urban consumers (Journal of Political Ecology, 2025) examined institutional, organizational, cognitive, social, and experiential proximity between consumers and farmers despite geographical distance. The study found that consumers and farmers faced challenges in establishing proximity, but that shared experiences from farming activities and social events, along with participants' willingness to improve CSA operations and strengthen ties, contributed to an ongoing process of building proximity.

Aldona Glińska‐Neweś, Paweł Brzustewicz, Iwona Escher, Yusheng Fu, Anupam Singh · Food Quality and Preference · Global

Two studies comparing consumers and non-consumers of Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) examined whether participation strengthens environmental, social and health consciousness and sustainable behavior. CSA consumers showed higher environmental and social consciousness than non-consumers, with social consciousness increasing over the course of participation, and reported more sustainable consumer behavior extending beyond food to other spheres of consumption.

Tanja Kähkönen, Joshua Finch, Michael den Herder · Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research) · Global

This paper describes community supported agriculture (CSA) as a collaboration model for food production, distribution and consumption involving farmers and consumers. It notes that CSA consumers can include individuals and families as well as other consumers such as restaurants, schools and kindergartens.

Xiaofan Tian, Ruifang Zhang, Zifan Wang, Xinna Kang, Zhixin Yang · Agriculture · Global

This systematic review analyzed Community-Supported Agriculture (CSA) literature from 1999 to 2023 to identify research themes and trends, corroborating Maslow’s hierarchy of needs theory. The review found a geographical expansion of CSA research from North America to Asia and Africa, and a societal shift from basic sustenance to a deeper understanding of nutrition and diet. Recent research emphasizes "environment" and "health and education," aligning with higher-level needs in Maslow's theory.

M. Malek Lou, S M Mirdamadi, Shahab Alddin Alddin Shokri, S. J. F. Hosseini · Brazilian Journal of Biology · Iran

A survey study was conducted in Ghazel Dareh village, Markazi province, Iran, to design a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) model for increasing food security. Questionnaires were administered to 110 active farmers, with 84 responses collected. The results indicated that economic, socio-institutional, policy-making, educational, and infrastructural factors significantly influenced CSA development. Infrastructural factors had the largest effect (impact factor 0.88), while socio-institutional factors had the smallest (impact factor 0.54). All impact factors were positive, suggesting that improving these factors could enhance CSA development in the study area.

Jasmina Božić, Armano Srbljinović, Snježana Mihinica · Emotions and Society · Croatia

This study investigated the formation of expectations and the links between expectations and action among 29 Croatian micro-producers of organic fruits and vegetables. Thematic analysis was conducted based on interviews with entrepreneurs from all Croatian counties and the City of Zagreb. Four recurring themes linking participants' expectations and action were revealed, and acceptance and recognition as members of community-supported agriculture groups, along with access to specific resources as members of organic producer associations, were identified as key drivers of optimism and confidence among participants.

Catharina Any Sulistyowati, Suraya Afiff, Muhammad Baiquni, Mia Siscawati · Jurnal Ilmu Sosial dan Ilmu Politik · Global

This study contributes to the geographic mapping of Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) studies in Scopus-indexed social science journals, tracing the emergence and development of diverse CSA models, its political economy context, and the pattern of research themes across geographic areas. Findings reveal that the urban middle class in industrial countries can encourage farmers to produce healthy food and apply more sustainable farming systems. A limitation of this study is the lack of literature on CSA from non-western or non-industrialized countries.

Ming-Jie Tay, Tuan Hock Ng, Ying-San Lim · Environmental and Sustainability Indicators · Malaysia

To explore farmers' motivations for participating in Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) programs in Malaysia, 15 farmers were interviewed one-on-one at their farms using snowball sampling, with each session lasting 1-2 hours. The findings indicated that CSA not only provides economic benefits for farmers but also promotes eco-friendly food production and distribution, while enhancing social equity within local communities. The three qualitative indicators inherent to CSA serve as essential pillars advocating for the expansion of CSA initiatives and a supportive policy environment for sustainable food production systems.

Martina Artmann, Marie Herzig, Henriette John · Discover Cities · Global

This study provides a framework for selecting and operationalizing indicators for a comparative sustainability assessment of different urban agriculture types, exemplified by Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) and vertical farming. Based on a qualitative content analysis of vision guidelines, results suggest that CSA can be considered the more sustainable form across all three sustainability dimensions. However, considering vertical farming's main benefit is increased food production efficiency, it is suggested to balance its shortcomings and lack of vision on social justice, biodiversity conservation, and food quality by fostering a hybrid model of community supported vertical farming. This suggestion implies that vertical farming alone has limited effects in these aspects.

Jérémie Forney, Julien Vuilleumier, Marion Fresia · · Switzerland

This study on the local contract farming (LCF) movement in Switzerland is based on an ethnography of three LCF networks. The research focuses on the contract that formalizes the "promise of difference" and the redefinition of food quality and value. It acknowledges both the potential for transformation of LCF ventures and their clear limitations, aiming to foster discussions beyond simple statements of success or failure.

Stefan Geissberger, Mollie Chapman · People and Nature · Switzerland

This paper explored how active labor participation in Swiss solidarity agriculture cooperatives influences members' values and behavior. Qualitative interviews with 21 members of three cooperatives revealed that participation and work practices fostered new relational connections to food, farmers, and nature, transforming intrinsic and instrumental values into relational values. The study concludes that values, particularly relational values, can form and change through lived experiences.

Pavlo Ardanov, Annette Piorr, Alexandra Doernberg, Sonja Brodt, Jennifer B. Lauruol, Iryna Kazakova, Valentyna Movchan, Lucas A. Garibaldi · Agroecology and Sustainable Food Systems · Global

This study assessed information from multiple sources to design diversified cropping systems with vegetables and spice crops for cold temperate climates, integrating trait and observational data from databases, farmer surveys, and literature reviews. While farmers achieved medium to good levels of their main goals, they failed to reach desired multifunctionality with their polycultures. None of the individual data sources provided a comprehensive dataset, but combining them increased crop combination options while also increasing planning and management complexity.

David Barkin · Edward Elgar Publishing eBooks · Global

This study contributes to the significance of a growing global movement where millions of people are taking control of their environments, creating "Territories of Life" to strengthen autonomy and produce food using traditional techniques enhanced by agroecology. Indigenous and peasant communities, who inhabit over one-quarter of the world's land and produce about 70% of global food, are restructuring their organizations and governance to control their ancestral territories. This movement has the potential to influence other communities and expand local and regional networks and markets worldwide.

Megan K. Schraedley · · Global

This chapter examines Sweet Water Farm, a Community-Supported Agriculture (CSA) farm, through a participant's perspective, analyzing organizing practices by highlighting three tensions. These include the tension between community creation and customer management, issues of inclusion and exclusion from CSAs, and the challenge of transforming capitalist economic structures while operating within them. The study reveals that while CSAs offer potential for addressing equity in the food system, questions persist regarding their long-term adoption by diverse communities as an alternative to conventional agriculture.

Marco Medici, Maurizio Canavari, Alessandra Castellini · Agroecology and Sustainable Food Systems · Global

This study designed and applied a cost-benefit analysis based on the Social Return on Investment (SROI) to five Community-Supported Agriculture (CSA) initiatives, addressing the lack of objective sustainability indicators. CSAs are local food supply chains characterized by member volunteer commitment, reduction of synthetic inputs in food production, and shortening of the supply chain. Findings revealed that the analyzed CSA case studies demonstrated a limited but positive socio-environmental performance compared to conventional food supply chains, thereby showing they can create real value in terms of social gains and mitigation of environmental impacts.

Miriam Williams, Lillian Tait · · Australia (Sydney)

This chapter reflects on how attention to care helps understand the hopes and troubles shaping Community Food Initiatives (CFIs) in unequal worlds. Drawing on data from a 2019 research project documenting CFIs across metropolitan Sydney, Australia, the chapter analyzes two initiatives: the Addison Road Community Centre Organisation (ARCCO) Food Pantry and Five Serves Produce Community Support Agriculture Scheme (CSA). The analysis reveals expansive communities involving human and non-human others that are cared for, cared about, and cared with CFIs, highlighting the complexities of care in unequal contexts.

Olalekan A. Uthman, Rachel Court, Seun Anjorin, Jodie Enderby, Lena Al-Khudairy, Chidozie Nduka, Hema Mistry, G. J. Meléndez‐Torres, Sian Taylor‐Phillips, Aileen Clarke · Health Technology Assessment · Global

A systematic review of 54 simulation-based studies investigated the potential effect of structural interventions on preventing cardiovascular disease. The studies indicated a prospective decrease in cardiovascular incidents from interventions in areas such as diet, tobacco, and alcohol control. However, significant heterogeneity in models prevented output data comparisons, and no models considered interrelationships between multiple policies.