Community Supported Agriculture
Overview
Community Supported Agriculture is a social enterprise idea, based on a direct, active partnership between farmers (or a growing project) and the local community. This partnership creates benefits for both, as well as helping reconnect people with the land where their food is grown.
CSA enables a local community to take a bigger responsibility for how its food is produced and distributed. It also means farms can share the risks of production and creates a better market for their produce. There are, however, risks involved because bumper crops cannot be guaranteed or animal health predicted.
No two CSAs are alike, due to the differing needs and structure of the farms and their local communities, but in general the consumers make a financial commitment through regular payments and become members of the CSA. Often they then have a say in what and how the produce is grown. In return, most CSA farm strive to provide fresh, high quality produce, often using organic or biodynamic growing methods.
Types of CSAs include:
- Vegetable box schemes (sometimes including dairy products and meat)
- Allotment sites on farms
- Orchards
- Co-operatives (farmers developing co-operative networks to access a variety of products).
Emerging Trend
Community Supported Agriculture has been around in various forms for a number of decades and is popular in the US, Japan, Australia and parts of Europe. The growth of these schemes has been rapid in some areas of the world, but acknowledged to be slower in the UK
However, the huge growth in interest about local food in the UK over the last couple of years, combined with a growing awareness of the potential environmental and health benefits of local food, has created more of a buzz around CSA. This has been aided by the support of the Soil Association (see below for further information).
Examples
Dragon Orchard Cropsharers in Herefordshire
Produces apples, pears, cider, apple juice and preserves. For an annual subscription cropsharers are invited to visit the farm for a weekend during each season to see how the orchard develops and grows over the year. In the autumn they take home a generous share of the orchard produce.
Scarbrough Shearling Partnership in Yorkshire
Enables people living in the Scarborough area to buy locally grown lamb at good prices. It also means the group of ten farmers who rear traditional flocks of Swaledale sheep on the North Yorkshire Moors have a keen local market for their meat.
Loxley Valley Community Farm, near Sheffield
A community smallholding which provides members with the opportunity to produce their own food, develop a more involved community and give something back to those in need.
Stroud Community Agriculture
Leases nearly 50 acres of farmland around the Gloucestershire town of Stroud. Members support the farmers to produce their food. The farmers receive a reasonable wage and everyone shares high quality, locally-grown organic vegetables and meat.
More Information
The Soil Association
www.soilassociation.org/csa.aspx
The Soil Association has a comprehensive range of support material and advice for would-be CSAs, including an action manual to download called A Share In The Harvest. There's also information on training, funding and you can subscribe to a CSA newsletter.
Making Local Food Work
www.makinglocalfoodwork.co.uk/about/csa/index.cfm
An initiative managed by the Plunkett Foundation and funded by the Big Lottery Fund to explore community enterprise approaches to connecting land and people through food. Has a section on CSA with brief case studies.
Funding
The Soil Association has produced a funding guide aimed a CSA projects.
