A-4 Community Supported Agriculture Paul Swanson, Extension Educator

Supported Agriculture (CSA) but the concept is about three decades old in Japan and Europe and about 10-15 years old on the east coast of the United States. In Japan, because of continued loss of farmland to urbanization and the migration of farmers to the city, a group of women approached local farm families with the idea of direct marketing produce from area farms to urban residents. This created an alternative distribution system independent of the conventional market. The farmers agreed to provide produce if multiple families made a commitment to support the farm. Formal partnerships called teikei began in the form of cooperative buying clubs and now involve millions of people. These buying cooperatives have branched out to start other companies, recycling shops and child care services. In the early 1970s, farmers and community members i