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Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) is a partnership between farmers and the local community, providing mutual benefits and reconnecting the people to the land where their food is grown. Here are just some of the key benefits to be gained:
Benefits to the local communities
- consumers benefit from receiving fresh local produce from known sources
retailers benefit from increased demand for local produce
- the environmental benefits through fewer 'food miles', less packaging and ecologically sensitive farming with improved animal welfare
- a local economy enhanced by more local processing, local consumption and a re-circulation of money through 'local spend'
- people learning about varieties of food, it's production methods and costs
- people having a positive influence over the local landscape and encouraging more sustainable farming
Benefits to local growers and farmers
- a more secure income which improves business planning and time to concentrate on farming
- a higher and fairer return for produce sold directly to the local community
- increased involvement in the local community
improved support from local community with increased help with labour and planning initiatives for the future
the opportunity to respond directly to consumers' needs
How a CSA could work for us
There is no fixed way of organising CSA, it's a framework to inspire communities to work together with their local farmers, so it's up to us how this works best for our project and the local growers, businesses and community.
Here are some examples of initiatives that have come out of other CSA projects:
- receiving a weekly box of vegetables throughout the year
- help with the running of an organic farm and supporting a farm shop
- sponsor an apple tree and harvest its fruit
- rent a plot of farmland and have vegetables grown on your behalf
- buy shares in a cow and receive interest in cheese
- rent-a-vine from one of Britain's few vineyards
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