Research & reports

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

Describes the origin of Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) programs in the United States in the 1980s, in which consumers pay farmers in advance for a season's share of farm products and farmers commit to supplying a sufficient quantity, quality and variety of produce. The abstract provided contains only this background description of the CSA concept, with no reported survey data, sample or findings on consumer preferences.

Lucy Jarosz · Gender Place & Culture · United States

This article examines the motivations of women farmers involved in community supported agriculture (CSA) in a US metropolitan region, based on interviews. It argues that these women's motivations reflect an ethics of care, centering their work on nourishing themselves and others. Their choices are shaped by the urban context, race, and middle-class status, expressing self-care and a post-capitalist politics that challenges neoliberal subject formation.

Melea Press, Eric J. Arnould · Journal of Consumer Culture · United States

This study examines how Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) programs gained legitimacy as a market form in the United States, using a socio-historical lens. It argues that American pastoralist ideology, linking historical agrarian ideals with modern CSAs, helped integrate them into the mainstream. The research suggests that the Internet further aided this legitimation by fostering personal commercial communications and de-massification, reinforcing egalitarian principles and community perceptions central to pastoralist ideology while masking cultural contradictions.

Marina Castelo Branco, RS Liz, F. A. de Alcântara, HAG Martins, J.A Hanson · Horticultura Brasileira · Brazil

This study gathered information on Community Supported Agriculture (CSA/AAC) projects in the US and assessed the willingness of consumers and poor urban producers in a low-income Brazilian city to engage in such projects. US AAC farmers typically cultivated less than 2 hectares, offered various vegetables for at least four months, but faced challenges with production planning and long-term maintenance. Brazilian consumers showed willingness to participate, mainly for fresh, organically produced food, while poor urban producers were unwilling due to their inability to guarantee production.

Heidi M. Blanck, Olivia M. Thompson, Linda Nebeling, Amy L. Yaroch · PubMed · United States

This study analyzed data from 1,994 US adults from the National Cancer Institute's Food Attitudes and Behaviors Survey to assess the use of farm-to-consumer venues for purchasing fruits and vegetables. It found that 27% of grocery shoppers reported at least weekly use of these venues during summer. Older adults and those in the Northeast were most likely to use them weekly, with no differences observed by sex, race/ethnicity, education, or income.

Jack Russell Weinstein, Jay Basquiat · UND Scholarly Commons (University of North Dakota) · United States

This abstract explores philosophical questions regarding food and sustainability. It raises inquiries about why certain foods are eaten, the meaning of 'natural,' and the moral rules for food manufacturing and agricultural priorities. The text also questions the cultural and spiritual roles of food and responsibilities in providing food. Jay Basquiat is an Assistant Professor of Philosophy at Bismarck State College who sustainably farms near Mandan, ND.

Greg Jackson, Amanda L. Raster, Will Shattuck · Journal of Agriculture Food Systems and Community Development · United States (Southern Wisconsin)

Since 2005, four insurance providers in southern Wisconsin have offered rebates to policyholders who subscribe to a local Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) operation, reducing costs by up to 40%. This program, managed by MACSAC, led to increased fruit and vegetable consumption among CSA members and reduced advertising time for growers. Both the number of MACSAC member farms and the total shares offered by these farms have substantially increased, indicating the program's success in reducing grower risk and expanding production.

Jason J. Czarnezki · Pace Digital Repository (Pace University) · United States

This article considers legal, theoretical, and practical steps towards a more sustainable food model. It argues that two changes are necessary to alter modern American food consumption: increased awareness and increased availability. The article reiterates the need to increase information available to consumers and the consequences of food choices, further arguing that structural changes in the food system are necessary to increase access to sustainable foods.

Jennifer Marie Vazquez · · United States

In 2010, the ISU Student Organic Farm (SOF) completed its fifth season at the ISU Horticulture Research Station and began selling Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) shares for the first time. This initiative aimed to address the challenges of voluntarily managing an acre of organic vegetables. The effort led to increased participant involvement, greater food production and distribution, and improvements in infrastructure and soil fertility, including the purchase and installation of drip irrigation and the planting of a winter cover crop.

Kathleen L. Cappellano · Nutrition Today · United States

This article outlines farmers markets, community-supported agriculture, school- and community-based gardening, and collaborative programs that provide access to fresh produce, in response to American consumers' growing interest in learning about how and where their food is produced. It highlights online resources that describe these programs and organizations, which inform people about the many benefits of local agriculture.

Lester Scott Lakey · BearWorks (Missouri State University) · United States (Missouri)

An ethnographic study of two farms in the Springfield Plateau region of the Missouri Ozarks was conducted to assess the effects of "local food" movements on farmers. The study found that local farms share qualities with traditional family farms. It also revealed significant variability in farmers' motivations and attitudes, ranging from farming as a means to earn family income to farming as a way to build networks connecting farmers and consumers within the community.

John M. Polimeni, Raluca Iorgulescu Polimeni, Richard L. Shirey, Christina L. Trees, W. Scott Trees · Journal of Business & Economics Research (JBER) · United States

This paper develops a theory of demand for Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) membership, using survey and anecdotal data from members of the Roxbury Biodynamic Farm, the second largest CSA in the United States. The discussion considers evidence of a direct relationship between production method and demand. It also hypothesizes that dynamic demand, influenced by participation over time, is a necessary but insufficient condition for CSA sustainability.

Kathleen Lynn Wensuc · Digital Commons - DU (University of Denver) · United States (Colorado)

This study investigates consumer understanding of food labeling and the marketability of authentically healthy, organic foods from independent farms. Conducted in Boulder, Colorado, it explores potential confusion between "organic" and "natural" products and reasons for participation in community supported agriculture programs. Findings suggest that a misperception between the terms "organic" and "natural" may not exist, but distinguishing them remains important.

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.

K. Brandon Lang · Culture & Agriculture · United States

This paper investigates the evolution of "From the Ground Up," a community-supported agriculture (CSA) program in Maryland, and the reasons behind its changes. Based on survey and interview data, the study explores how this CSA, which connects producers and consumers through seasonal fees and weekly produce shares, has developed over time.

Sarah Rabkin · · United States

Amy Courtney, founder of Freewheelin’ Farm, a community supported agriculture (CSA) program, delivers shares by bicycle-drawn trailer. Courtney, a 1997 graduate of UCSC’s Apprenticeship in Ecological Horticulture, started the farm in 2002 with minimal motorized vehicles, utilizing used equipment and recycled materials. She and her partners continue to haul all CSA shares six miles into Santa Cruz by bicycle. Courtney's work is driven by a commitment to social justice, community health, and cultural vitality. The farm collaborates with "Food, What?!"—a youth empowerment program, and hosts cultural and educational initiatives.

Wuyang Hu, Marvin T. Batte, Timothy A. Woods, Stanley C. Ernst, Hu, Wuyang, Batte, Marvin T., Woods, Timothy A., Ernst, Stanley C. · AgEcon Search (University of Minnesota, USA) · United States

This study used survey data from two US states to answer two questions: what is the maximum distance food can travel and still be considered "local" by consumers, and is "local" equally important across food categories. The research found that consumers' accepted food travel distance may be much shorter than generally believed. Additionally, there is significant variation in the importance consumers attach to "being local" for different food categories, and these differences are related to consumer characteristics.

Sarah Rabkin · · United States (California)

Juan Pablo Perez founded J&P Organics, a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) program in California, in 2006, which now serves approximately 300 subscribers. The enterprise offers flexible subscription options, including home delivery and varied order frequencies, and sells produce to restaurants and farmers' markets. Perez's success is attributed to his entrepreneurial skills and mentorship from the Agriculture and Land-Based Training Association (ALBA).

Shante Morgan · · United States (California)

This record is an archive of blog articles from August 2010 for @CSUN, Volume XV, No. 1. Topics include a dedication ceremony, the online debut of a newspaper, campus events, faculty and staff features, and an article on Community Supported Agriculture providing a healthy alternative for CSUN.

Sarah Rabkin · eScholarship (California Digital Library) · United States (California)

This article profiles Andy Griffin, who operates Mariquita Farm on twenty-five acres in Watsonville and Hollister, California. Griffin, with roots in California's 1970s organic-farming renaissance, offers insights gleaned from extensive experience in the farming and marketing of organic produce. He was interviewed by Sarah Rabkin on November 6th and December 16th, 2008, sharing trenchant insights into the evolving economics of organic production, distribution, and marketing on both small and large scales.

Jennifer Sumner, Heather Mair, Erin Nelson · International Journal of Agricultural Sustainability · Canada (Ontario)

This paper presents a case study of Fourfold Farm CSA, an urban agriculture exemplar in south-western Ontario, Canada. Analysis of in-depth interviews with CSA members and co-founders revealed that the farm serves as more than just a source of organic food. It links urban food consumers with producers through cultural activities, emphasizing civic engagement and community.

C. Clare Hinrichs · · United States (Pennsylvania)

This paper argues for sociologists' engagement with sustainable food systems, illustrating the urgency of agricultural and food issues through sketches. One sketch highlights the 2009 tomato blight in the Northeast, which devastated crops from commercial to home gardens. This blight was traced to tomato starts from large nurseries supplying major retailers, demonstrating how local food can be linked to large-scale industrialized agriculture.

Sarah Rabkin · eScholarship (California Digital Library) · United States (California)

This interview, conducted by Sarah Rabkin at Jim Nelson's home at Camp Joy Gardens in Boulder Creek, California, on August 20 and October 23, 2008, features Nelson discussing the founding and early days of the UCSC Garden, his experiences with Alan Chadwick, the creation and evolution of Camp Joy, and his philosophy as a farmer-educator. Camp Joy Gardens is a 4.5-acre farm in Santa Cruz County that organically cultivates crops using biodynamic principles and supplies produce to twenty-five local families through a community-supported agriculture program.

Irene H. Reti · eScholarship (California Digital Library) · United States

María Inés Catalán was born in Santa Teresa, Guerrero, Mexico, in 1962, immigrated to the United States in 1986, and picked broccoli and carrots in California's Salinas Valley; her father was also a migrant farm worker, while her grandfather had farmed his own land in Mexico. In 1994 she entered an organic farming training program at the Rural Development Center in Salinas (an earlier incarnation of ALBA, the Agriculture & Land-Based Training Association), after which she became the first Latina migrant farm worker to own and operate a certified organic farm in California and the first Latina in the country to found a farm distributing produce through a community-supported agriculture (CSA) program. Since 2001, Catalán and her family have run Catalán Family Farms on fifteen rented acres in Hollister, California, certified organic by CCOF in 2005, growing kale, chard, strawberries, tomatoes, corn, onions, pumpkins, chiles, and carrots for sale through the Laughing Onion CSA and farmers' markets in the Salinas, Monterey Bay, and San Francisco Bay areas, including the Ferry Plaza Market and the Berkeley Farmers' Market. She is also an activist for food security among low-income communities, especially Latinos, having worked with the group P.O.D.E.R. in San Francisco's Mission district to deliver CSA shares, collaborated with schools, churches, and the Homeless Garden Project's CSA in Santa Cruz to deliver boxes to home-bound residents, provided CSA information in Spanish, and set up a farm stand outside the Monterey County government office on WIC pickup days. She also founded the nonprofit Pequeños Agricultores en California (PAC) to help immigrant farmers obtain organic certification and apply for grants and loans.

Sarah Rabkin · eScholarship (California Digital Library) · United States (California)

An oral-history interview record with Amy Courtney, founder of the Freewheelin' Farm CSA in Santa Cruz County, California, USA, conducted by Sarah Rabkin on January 16, 2009. Courtney, a 1997 graduate of UC Santa Cruz's Apprenticeship in Ecological Horticulture, started the farm in 2002 using almost no motorized vehicles, incorporating used equipment and recycled materials; CSA shares are still delivered by bicycle-drawn trailer six miles into Santa Cruz, with farming partners Kirstin Yogg and Darryl Wong. Courtney's background includes work with school gardens, the Santa Cruz Homeless Garden Project, the United Farm Workers, the AFL-CIO, and an agricultural extension program in Cuba. The farm collaborates with "Food, What?!," a youth empowerment program based at UCSC's Life Lab Garden Classroom, and hosts a community art show, yoga classes and cooking instruction with Zen priest Edward Espe Brown. At the time of the interview, Courtney and her partners had just signed a lease for an additional parcel, multiplying the farm's acreage eightfold.