Document Type
Article
Publication Date
1-1-2013
Journal / Book Title
Agriculture and human values
Abstract
This study reconsiders the purported benefits of community found in Community Supported Agriculture (CSA). Using an online survey of members who belong to CSAs in New York, between November and December 2010, we assess members' reasons for joining a CSA, and their perceptions of community within their CSA and beyond. A total of 565 CSA members responded to the survey. Results show an overwhelming majority of members joined their CSA for fresh, local, organic produce, while few respondents joined their CSA to build community, meet like-minded individuals or share financial risk with farmers. Members reported that they do not derive a strong sense of community from either their CSA or other forms of community, yet they volunteered at their CSA and appear to be engaged in activities within their communities, though the frequency of the latter is unknown. These data suggest New York CSAs are oriented toward the instrumental and functional models, which emphasize the economic aspects of farming rather than collaborative models, which foster community (Feagan and Henderson 2009).
DOI
10.1007/s10460-012-9391-9
MSU Digital Commons Citation
Pole, Antoinette and Gray, Margaret, "Farming Alone? What's Up with the "C" in Community Supported Agriculture" (2013). Department of Political Science and Law Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works. 22.
https://digitalcommons.montclair.edu/polysci-law-facpubs/22
Published Citation
Pole, A., & Gray, M. (2013). Farming alone? What’s up with the “C” in community supported agriculture. Agriculture and human values, 30(1), 85-100.
Included in
Law Commons, Legal Studies Commons, Political Science Commons