The concept of a Community Supported Agriculture was created for those who didn’t have access to regular resources to purchase food. This has largely to do with the fact that most areas are known as what we call a food desert. Food deserts are urban neighborhoods and rural towns without ready access to fresh, healthy, and affordable food. Instead of supermarkets and grocery stores, these communities may have no food access or are served only by fast food restaurants and convenience stores that offer few healthy, affordable food options. How does one define where a food desert might be? The USDA, Treasury and HHS have defined a food desert as a census tract with a substantial share of residents who live in low-income areas that have low levels
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Most CSA’s are small stores that usually have fresh vegetables and fruits that one can obtain in place of what you would find at your average grocery store. But who has access to these CSA’s? When asking what kind of access it’s much more than knowledge of where CSA is located. It’s more along the lines of if you have a CSA in your neighborhood or around the area, how do you get to it? How often do you use your CSA? Does your CSA accept all forms of payment such as credit, or WIC or Snap or even EBT?
CSA’s and Farmers Market seem to be the preferred method according to Darby(2008), consumers seem to prefer locally grown over U.S grown, even when freshness is held constant and are almost willing to pay double for a product from a closer location. CSA’s and Farmers markets seem to be the historical flagship of local food systems and the numbers in the United States have grown significantly. (Brown) Since the makings of these CSA’s and Farmers Markets, they have become more popular among …show more content…
However Cynthia Cone has other ideas about Community Supported Agriculture, she raises the question of whether CSA’s and Farmers Market are a sustainable alternative to industrial agriculture? Cone emphasizes that “Community-supported agriculture is a growing social movement that endeavors to make direct connections between the producers of food and those who consume it. Its most salient goals address concerns about the quality of the food supply and the survival of small farms, concerns that are to be addressed through building communities of farmers and consumer members.”
Most CSA’s are small stores that usually have fresh vegetables and fruits that one can obtain in place of what you would find at your average grocery store. But who has access to these CSA’s? When asking what kind of access it’s much more than knowledge of where CSA is located. It’s more along the lines of if you have a CSA in your neighborhood or around the area, how do you get to it? How often do you use your CSA? Does your CSA accept all forms of payment such as credit, or WIC or Snap or even EBT?
CSA’s and Farmers Market seem to be the preferred method according to Darby(2008), consumers seem to prefer locally grown over U.S grown, even when freshness is held constant and are almost willing to pay double for a product from a closer location. CSA’s and Farmers markets seem to be the historical flagship of local food systems and the numbers in the United States have grown significantly. (Brown) Since the makings of these CSA’s and Farmers Markets, they have become more popular among …show more content…
However Cynthia Cone has other ideas about Community Supported Agriculture, she raises the question of whether CSA’s and Farmers Market are a sustainable alternative to industrial agriculture? Cone emphasizes that “Community-supported agriculture is a growing social movement that endeavors to make direct connections between the producers of food and those who consume it. Its most salient goals address concerns about the quality of the food supply and the survival of small farms, concerns that are to be addressed through building communities of farmers and consumer members.”