Community Supported Agriculture as Revitalization: Reconnecting the Farm and the Dinner Table

Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) was created in response to consumers\u27 concerns about food safety and quality. However, it is more than just a way to get your groceries: CSA represents an attempt to completely reform the way Americans eat by forging a direct link between the farm and the dinner table, and in so doing refute the anonymous, industrial food production system that rose to prominence in the 20th century. In achieving these goals, CSA has taken on the form and aims of a revitalization movement as originally conceived by Anthony Wallace in 1956. Even though the revitalization model has traditionally been used to study spiritual movements of indigenous origin, its framework is equally applicable to a secular Western movement like CSA. By using Wallace\u27s model we can trace the social and historical development of the movement and also shed light on the factors that have both contributed to its success and limited its growth. Furthermore, using Wallace\u27s model in this way is the first step in directly comparing the history, goals, and membership of CSA with similar social movements as well as exploring more general questions about the future of sustainable agriculture in America