Community Supported Agriculture
The Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) Network Australia New Zealand is an advocacy group, dedicated to highlighting, growing and supporting the CSAs which already exist and those which are emerging.
This network is an educational platform to increase the customer base of CSA's
and to support farmers in developing the ‘voice’ to grow the demand for such a base.
Why CSA ?
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Types of CSA
Models of CSA - from Soil Association 'A Share in the Harvest"
CSAs reflect the culture of the communities they serve, the capabilities of the CSA land and the farmers who manage it. Therefore, no two CSAs are likely to be the same and tend to be dynamic as the community’s needs change over time. In England alone there is a rich variety of initiatives such as: whole farm CSAs, customer supported box schemes, conservation based initiatives, intentional communities, rent or adopt schemes, urban food growing projects, community allotments and charitable projects.
Go to www.soilassociation.org/csa.aspx to see some examples of what can be achieved.
CSA therefore, does not describe an end product, CSA is more about how to develop a new local food system. However, CSAs can be categorised according to who organises them or the motivation behind them. These are described below:
Farmer-driven
Organised by the farmer, to whom the members financially subscribe with little other involvement, but this can vary between schemes. This kind of CSA is probably the most common in the United States. In the UK this is equivalent to a producer-run vegetable box scheme often with activities bringing customers to the farm.
Partnership: a relationship based on mutual trust, openness, shared risk and shared rewards. People living in communal groups who ‘intend’ to achieve a better social system.
Community/consumer-driven
Consumers participate in or may even run the scheme working closely with the farmer who produces what they want. The degree of consumer involvement is variable. It was this model of CSA that was first introduced into the USA. Stroud Community Agriculture and Camel CSA are good examples.
Farmer co-operative
Farmer-driven CSA where two or more farms co-operate to supply its members with a greater variety of produce. This model allows individual farms to specialise in the most appropriate farming for that holding (larger farms may concentrate on field scale production, smaller farms on specialist crops and upland farms on rearing livestock). There are several examples of this in Japan and Germany.
Farmer-consumer co-operative
As described above, farmers develop co-operative networks to access a variety of products but there is greater commitment by the consumers. Consumers may co-own land and other resources with the participating farmers and work together to produce and distribute food. Stroud Food Hub is a pioneering model where the co-op is jointly owned by both producer and consumer members.
Models of CSA - from Soil Association 'A Share in the Harvest"
CSAs reflect the culture of the communities they serve, the capabilities of the CSA land and the farmers who manage it. Therefore, no two CSAs are likely to be the same and tend to be dynamic as the community’s needs change over time. In England alone there is a rich variety of initiatives such as: whole farm CSAs, customer supported box schemes, conservation based initiatives, intentional communities, rent or adopt schemes, urban food growing projects, community allotments and charitable projects.
Go to www.soilassociation.org/csa.aspx to see some examples of what can be achieved.
CSA therefore, does not describe an end product, CSA is more about how to develop a new local food system. However, CSAs can be categorised according to who organises them or the motivation behind them. These are described below:
Farmer-driven
Organised by the farmer, to whom the members financially subscribe with little other involvement, but this can vary between schemes. This kind of CSA is probably the most common in the United States. In the UK this is equivalent to a producer-run vegetable box scheme often with activities bringing customers to the farm.
Partnership: a relationship based on mutual trust, openness, shared risk and shared rewards. People living in communal groups who ‘intend’ to achieve a better social system.
Community/consumer-driven
Consumers participate in or may even run the scheme working closely with the farmer who produces what they want. The degree of consumer involvement is variable. It was this model of CSA that was first introduced into the USA. Stroud Community Agriculture and Camel CSA are good examples.
Farmer co-operative
Farmer-driven CSA where two or more farms co-operate to supply its members with a greater variety of produce. This model allows individual farms to specialise in the most appropriate farming for that holding (larger farms may concentrate on field scale production, smaller farms on specialist crops and upland farms on rearing livestock). There are several examples of this in Japan and Germany.
Farmer-consumer co-operative
As described above, farmers develop co-operative networks to access a variety of products but there is greater commitment by the consumers. Consumers may co-own land and other resources with the participating farmers and work together to produce and distribute food. Stroud Food Hub is a pioneering model where the co-op is jointly owned by both producer and consumer members.
Case studies
The best way to understand how community supported agriculture works is through case studies of various schemes. Here are some examples of CSA farms in action to inspire you to get involved!
These model case studies are from the UK and found on : https://communitysupportedagriculture.org.uk
We will endeavour to make Australian and New Zealand Case Studies available as rescues become available
The best way to understand how community supported agriculture works is through case studies of various schemes. Here are some examples of CSA farms in action to inspire you to get involved!
These model case studies are from the UK and found on : https://communitysupportedagriculture.org.uk
We will endeavour to make Australian and New Zealand Case Studies available as rescues become available
Canalside Community Food
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Chagside Farm
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Oak Tree Low Carbon Farm
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