Exploring the Empirics
Table 1 presents the characteristics of the CSAs in the study, which are described elsewhere in greater depth (Galt et al. 2011; Galt et al. 2012). Here I highlight that gross sales per cropland acre are high (for horticultural CSAs, specifically). This, however, does not mean that these farms are necessarily making a profit, although just over half of the farmers noted that their CSA programs were profitable. Turning more directly to the question of economic rents and self exploitation, Figure 1 shows the earnings within the framework; the mean is $25,408, and the standard deviation is $38,906. It shows the economic rents–self-exploitation continuum through two structuring categories—organically certified CSAs and noncertified CSAs—since it makes it more readable and this feature appears at first glance to have a considerable influence on the data (although this was not borne out in the detailed analysis presented later).