Jude Wait

Community Supported Agriculture: A Toolkit and Local Case Study of a Cooperative Model

Small farm and food producers with a passion for contributing to a sustainable local food system face many challenges. To aggregate products and market directly to consumers, more than a dozen young businesses are cooperating for a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) program. CSA subscribers pay upfront for seasonal shares in the harvest, which helps finance annual farm start-up costs. The Ashland-Talent Growers CSA, launched in January 2010, received direct business assistance in conjunction with this Master in Management Capstone project. The case study report is a manual for the growers and their core group of members, as it documents their process. The toolkit is designed to be a transferable compilation of templates, guidelines, resources, and references for cooperative CSA and community enterprises. CSA is part of the movement to counteract problems associated with globalized food systems, and integrates with other sustainable agriculture, food security, and localization initiatives.