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PANUPS: CSA Conference Draws 350+
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P A N U P S
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Pesticide Action Network
North America
Updates Service
* http://www.panna.org/panna/ *
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January 12, 1996
Farmer-Consumer Links Promoted at Community Supported
Agriculture Conference
In late 1995, more than 350 people gathered in San Francisco,
California for a conference on the social, economic and
environmental benefits of Community Supported Agriculture
(CSA), a relatively new model of food production and
distribution with roots in European and Japanese movements of
the 1960s (see PANUPS January 3, 1995 for information about
the "tekei" system in Japan, which is similar to CSA). In CSA
farms, producers sell "shares" directly to consumers, who
then receive regular (usually weekly) harvest portions
throughout the growing season.
According to land trust and CSA expert Chuck Matthei, one of
the conference's featured speakers, there are between 30,000
and 50,000 CSA members in the U.S. The conference, which
attracted growers, wholesalers and retailers, as well as
representatives from consumer, environmental and community
groups, offered workshops on a range of practical aspects of
running CSAs, including legal matters and liability
questions, budgets, marketing, land tenure and succession
planting, but also included discussions on CSAs' relationship
to community, food security and sustainable agriculture.
Discussions on food security focused on CSAs' role in
creating viable farms integrated into local economies and
communities. Several speakers described opportunities for
networking among farmers' markets, soup kitchens and
community groups to provide fresh, nutritious food to low-
income people through CSAs. Gail Feenstra, a CSA shareholder
and nutritionist at the University of California Sustainable
Agriculture Research and Education Program (SAREP), described
how community groups and farmers' markets in Los Angeles have
used the CSA model to distribute extra food to low-income
people throughout the area.
Feenstra also emphasized that because of their local and
community orientation, CSAs are well suited to work with
marginalized populations who may otherwise lack access to
fresh produce and information about nutrition. Participants
discussed utilizing the close links among CSA members,
farmers and communities to educate members and others about
the environmental and health benefits of eating organic food
in season.
CSAs were also described as an excellent means for farmers to
achieve income security independent of variable markets and
weather. According to Dru Rivers of Full Belly Farm in
California, the predictable income from CSA memberships
allows farmers to concentrate more on growing quality produce
and less on finding markets. Steve Moore of Moore Ranch in
California explained that since developing a CSA, his farm's
income had become so reliable that he can now offer year-
round work to his employees, whereas before work had been
seasonal and irregular.
Many participants expressed that CSAs play an important role
in strengthening community cohesiveness and cooperation -- a
significant attraction for many people. For example, Karen
Salkind, a CSA shareholder with the Live Power Farm CSA in
Covelo, California, emphasized that sense of community was a
crucial factor in her decision to belong to Live Power, a
farm whose farmers were able to purchase their land due to
the work and contributions of its CSA members. Elizabeth
Henderson, a farmer at Rose Valley Farm in New York, pointed
to a strong sense of community in the decision of Rose Valley
CSA members to subsidize shares for low-income people with
fees paid by full-paying shareholders.
The conference was co-sponsored by a consortium of farmers,
farmer groups, donors, educators and research centers,
including CSA West, a recently formed resource and advocacy
organization aimed at promoting CSAs. CSA West, a program of
the California-based Community Alliance with Family Farmers
(CAFF), assists farmers in developing CSA programs, offers
workshops and presentations about CSAs and monitors CSA
developments in the western U.S.
Source: PANNA (see below).
Contacts: CSA West, University of California, CASFS, 1156
High Street, Santa Cruz, CA 95064; phone (408) 459-3964; fax
(408) 459-2799; email farmcsa@aol.com; PANNA (see below).
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