Small farms in Canada have been using Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) as a way to market their products since the 1980s. However, the movement is still relatively small — a recent in-depth online search reveals about 400 CSAs across the country.
Community Supported Agriculture involves an agreement between a farmer and a group of people from the surrounding area who make an investment in the farm before the growing season, becoming members (or shareholders) of the CSA. Members of CSAs agree to share in both the rewards and the risks of the farm for that year. In return, they receive a weekly supply of food — mostly vegetables, but sometimes other products too (like fruit, honey, eggs and meat).
Several of us at the University of Guelph sent a survey to CSA operators across Canada to find out why they chose to start a CSA and how CSA compares to other ways they market their products.
Who did we hear from?
We heard from 100 CSA operators from nine provinces across Canada, 58 per cent were under the age of 40. They had an average of 3.17 acres under production for the CSA. Thirty-four per cent were certified organic and 100 per cent reported using some organic practices. The average number of member households was 100 and the CSA distributed their shares through on-farm pick up (77 per cent), delivery to intermediate pick-up locations (71 per cent), and delivery directly to members’ homes (31 per cent).
Why do farmers choose to start a CSA?
The top five reasons farmers chose to start a CSA were to provide higher quality food to customers; to ensure the financial viability of the farm; to contribute to a higher quality of life for themselves; to educate customers about the reality of food production; and to help build a strong local food system.
How does the CSA compare as a marketing tool?
Of the farmers surveyed, 86 had used other marketing mechanisms in addition to the CSA last year. The top three were farmers’ markets, farm-gate sales and direct sales to restaurants. Half of those farmers thought the CSA was better than the other ways they had marketed, and the rest thought it was either about equal or more complicated.
The greatest advantages of running a CSA were that it provided a guaranteed and predictable source of income (although not always sufficient to cover costs of hired labour or provide a decent income to the farmer); involved strong and supportive relationships with customers; and resulted in less waste, since they knew exactly how much product would be needed.
The main challenges farmers mentioned were the stress that came with ensuring sufficient variety and volume each week; the time and complexity of the administration involved; and member retention and recruitment.
One farmer summed up the pros and cons well: “The amount of e-mail [involved] in setting up and running our CSA is enormous. Thus, it requires a great deal more administrative time than our other outlets: stores, restaurants, and farmers' market. On the positive side, there is little waste and our members are great to deal with.”
A full report on the CSA survey results can be found at: http://www.uoguelph.ca/~jdevlin/CSA-in-Canada-2016-Report
~Dr. John Devlin & Meredith Davis. Dr. John Devlin is an Associate Professor in the Rural Planning and Development Department at the University of Guelph and Meredith Davis is a Rural Planning and Development graduate and a community-based researcher with a focus on food security.