This study provides an empirical
assessment of the extent to which these community-based
agriculture markets are associated with connection to
community, volunteerism, and civic and political activities.
In order to assess the relationship between civic agriculture
and community engagement, we surveyed over 1,300
people in the Mid-Hudson region of New York State. The
study design includes ‘‘civic agriculture participants’’ as
the unit of analysis, defined as CSA farm members,
shoppers at independent health food stores, and farmers
market patrons. For comparison, a telephone survey of
randomly selected residents of the region’s general
population was also conducted. Unlike studies that focus
solely on the perceptions of certain civic agriculture participants (e.g., CSA members), by comparing the perceptions and behaviors of those engaged in a range of civic
agriculture practices, we are able to identify the effects of
different forms of participation. The results demonstrate
higher levels of voluntarism and engagement in local politics among civic agriculture participants relative to the
general population. In addition, we found variation among
those engaged in different forms of civic agriculture, with
those immersed in more socially embedded forms of
exchange demonstrating greater community and political
involvement. These findings lend empirical support to the
civic agriculture thesis.