Sustainable agriculture and farming is the future. Learn more how you can
support farmers in our community. (site information provided from U.S.
Department of Agriculture)
Introduction
Community Supported Agriculture consists of a
community of individuals who pledge support to a farm
operation so that the farmland becomes, either legally
or spiritually, the community's farm, with the growers
and consumers providing mutual support and sharing the
risks and benefits of food production. Typically,
members or "share-holders" of the farm or garden pledge
in advance to cover the anticipated costs of the farm
operation and farmer's salary. In return, they receive
shares in the farm's bounty throughout the growing
season, as well as satisfaction gained from reconnecting
to the land and participating directly in food
production. Members also share in the risks of farming,
including poor harvests due to unfavorable weather or
pests. By direct sales to community members, who have
provided the farmer with working capital in advance,
growers receive better prices for their crops, gain some
financial security, and are relieved of much of the
burden of marketing.
AFSIC also has developed specific resources on this
topic. They include:
From Community Supported Agriculture (CSA):
An Annotated Bibliography and Resource Guide.
(1993) U.S. Department of Agriculture, Alternative
Farming Systems Information Center (AFSIC):
http://www.nal.usda.gov/afsic/pubs/csa/csadef.shtml
Data collected in 2007 by the U.S. Department of
Agriculture indicates that 12,549
farms in the United States reported marketing
products through a community supported agriculture
(CSA) arrangement. Information by state is also
available in:
CSA Across the Nation: Findings from the
1999 CSA Survey. (2003) Center for Integrated
Agricultural Systems (CIAS), College of Agricultural
and Life Sciences, University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Provides the first comprehensive portrait of the CSA
movement in the US. Findings from a 1999 national
"census" survey show commonalities and diversity
among CSA farms.
http://www.cias.wisc.edu/pdf/csaacross.pdf
CSA 2001: An Evolving Platform for
Ecological and Economical Agricultural Marketing and
Production. (2005) University of Massachusetts.
Analysis and update of previous surveys, with
emphasis on the U.S. Northeast.
http://www.smallfarm.org/nesawg/pdf/CSA_2001_report.pdf
Community Supported Agriculture on the
Central Coast: The CSA Member Experience.
(2003) Center for Agroecology and Sustainable Food
Systems (CASFS), University of California.
http://repositories.cdlib.org/casfs/rb/brief_no1/
Marketing Your Organic Produce. In
Final Results of the 4th National Organic Farmers
Survey: Sustaining Organic Farms in a Changing
Organic Marketplace. p. 48-51. (2004) Organic
Farming Research Foundation (OFRF). Survey conducted
in 2002.
http://ofrf.org/publications/survey.html
"Eating for Your Community: A Report from the
Founder of Community Supported Agriculture," by
Robyn Van En. (1995) In Context, Fall 1995,
p, 29.
http://www.context.org/ICLIB/IC42/VanEn.htm
"History of Community Supported Agriculture,"
Unit 4.1 In Teaching Direct Marketing and Small
Farm Viability: Resources for Instructors.
(2005) Center for Agroecology & Sustainable Food
Systems, University of California, Santa Cruz.
Lecture Outline and Appendix: The Ten Founding
Principles of the Teikei System in Japan.
http://casfs.ucsc.edu/education/instruction/tdm/download/4.1_CSA_History.pdf
AGRICOLA (AGRICultural Online Access) is a
bibliographic database of citations to the agricultural
literature created by the National Agricultural Library
(NAL) and its
cooperators. The records describe publications and
resources encompassing all aspects of agriculture and
allied disciplines. [Learn more about
AGRICOLA.]
Search strategy:
("community supported agriculture") or
("community supported farm???") or ("CSA
farm???") or ("subscription farm???") or ("box
scheme?") or ("teikei")
Tip: To browse AGRICOLA using other terms, go to
http://agricola.nal.usda.gov/. Under the
NAL Catalog or the
Articles Database column, select "Browse," select
"Subject Browse," enter a subject term in the box
labeled "Find," and then select "Submit."
CSA Resources for Farmers. (updated
2008) U.S. Department of Agriculture, AFSIC. List of
selected books, articles, videos and web links
focusing on the business of CSA farming.
http://www.nal.usda.gov/afsic/pubs/csa/csafarmer.shtml
[PDF|137KB]
Marketing, Business & Risk Management
publications from ATTRA - The National Sustainable
Agriculture Informtion Service.
http://attra.ncat.org/marketing.html
Publications from the Sustainable Agriculture
Research and Education (SARE) program.
Publications include Marketing Strategies for
Farmers and Ranchers; and Building a
Sustainable Business: A Guide to Developing a
Business Plan for Farms and Rural Businesses.
http://www.sare.org/publications/
Extension Publications
Missouri Alternatives Center (University of Missouri
Extension) database of full-text publications from
many states.
http://agebb.missouri.edu/mac/links/index.htm
[select "C", then "Community Supported Agriculture"
for links to 14 documents]
Food Circles Networking Project. Connecting
Farmers, Consumers, and Communities. University of
Missouri.
http://foodcircles.missouri.edu/
"Edible Connections: A Model to Facilitate
Citizen Dialogue and Build Community Collaboration."
(2001) Journal of Extension, 39:2.
http://www.joe.org/joe/2001april/a5.html
How Local Farmers and School Food Service
Buyers Are Building Alliances: Lessons Learned from
the USDA Small Farm/School Meals Workshop, May 1,
2000. (2000) U.S. Department of Agriculture,
Agricultural Marketing Service.
http://www.ams.usda.gov/tmd/MSB/PDFpubList/localfarmsandschool.pdf
The U.S. Department of Agriculture supports three
major programs that offer sustainable agriculture
information and assistance. Whether you are a farmer, an
educator or a researcher seeking more information about
sustainable agriculture in general, about a specific
crop, or help with a specific problem, these programs
can help. Contact information for each program and a
description of each program's area of specialization are
provided below.
Sustainable Agriculture Research and
Education (SARE) program
Provides grant opportunities; maintains diverse
portfolio of research projects; synthesizes research
results and on-farm experiences to develop books,
introductory bulletins and educator guides.
ATTRA - The National Sustainable Agriculture
Informtion Service, a program of the National
Center for Appropriate Technology (NCAT)
National information service answers questions about
specific farming practices and innovative marketing
approaches, including organic production.
http://attra.ncat.org
Alternative Farming Systems Information
Center (AFSIC)
Collects, organizes and distributes information on
alternative agriculture and provides high-level
searching and reference services from the National
Agricultural Library's vast collection and
world-wide databases.
http://afsic.nal.usda.gov
