Contrary to claims by scholars touting the role of
community in CSA, this study suggests the CSA model
does not offer much in the way of community to members,
even among members who are interested and involved in
community. While community is desirable on many levels
and much of the CSA literature accepts community as
inherent and attainable, these findings underline just how
idealized this concept is. Farmers and managers are more
often than not farming alone without the support of community. Accordingly, the instrumental and functional
models best depict the current condition between farmers
and members in New York State (Feagan and Henderson
2009). In part, this is due to farmers’ need to be economically viable, as well as the difficulty they face sustaining
and facilitating member participation (Loughridge 2002).
While the ideal CSA is one structured around committed
and involved members, CSA as an economic model is not a
novel idea