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peer-reviewed research article

Community Supported Agriculture is thriving in the Central Valley

authors

Ryan Galt, UC Davis
Libby O'Sullivan, UC Davis
Jessica Beckett, UC Davis
Colleen C. Hiner, UC Davis

publication information

California Agriculture 66(1):8-14. DOI: 10.3733/ca.v066n01p8. January-March 2012.

abstract

Community Supported Agriculture operations (CSAs) have grown rapidly in recent years. The original model, in which members support a farming operation by paying for produce in advance and receive a share of the farm's produce in return, has been adapted, with much innovation. Since little research existed on CSAs in the Central Valley, we surveyed and carried out in-depth interviews with 54 CSA farmers and two CSA organizers in the Central Valley and surrounding foothills. Here we focus on four aspects of these CSA operations: type, economic viability, farmer characteristics and farm attributes. We found two main CSA models, box and membership/share. Fifty-four percent of the CSAs reported being profitable, and the average gross sales per acre were $9,084. CSA farmers are diverse in political orientation, yet are generally younger, better educated and more likely to be women than the general farming population. CSA farms are relatively small, with a median size of 20 acres; have a median membership of 60 (585 average); use agroecological methods; cultivate agrobiodiversity; and utilize growing practices that generally meet or exceed National Organic Program standards.

author affiliations

R.E. Galt is Assistant Professor, Department of Human and Community Development, UC Davis; L. O'Sullivan is Ph.D. Student, Geography Graduate Group, UC Davis; J. Beckett is M. Sc., Community Development, UC Davis; C.C. Hiner is Ph.D. Candidate, Geography Graduate Group, UC Davis.

author notes

Essential funding was provided by a UC Davis Hellman Fellowship, a grant from the Packard Foundation through the Agricultural Sustainability Institute at UC Davis, and the UC Davis Agricultural Experiment Station. This work is part of Hatch Project CA-D∗-HCD-7743-H.

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