Twenty Years of Achievement: A Look at the FairShare CSA Coalition (Part 1)
Text/ Liu Chung-en, Kao Yi-chen
Madison, in the US Midwest state of Wisconsin, has always been a holy land of the American agricultural movement. In this small city of roughly 500,000 people, there is a world-renowned university (UW-Madison) developing all kinds of new agricultural research, a Slow Food club on campus, a thriving organic farming cooperative in the community, and fair-trade coffee shops and community gardens throughout the city. Every Saturday, the State Capitol square in the city center hosts the largest farmers' market in the entire United States (Dane County Farmer's Market), where over a hundred farmers set up stalls to sell all kinds of local agricultural products. Such a vibrant agricultural culture is something of an exception in a United States monopolized by agribusiness conglomerates.
Beyond the activities described above, Madison also uses its flourishing Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) to bind community, farmers and land tightly together into one common body. In Community Supported Agriculture, residents adopt a "share" to support local small farms, and the farms deliver the harvest straight from the fields to consumers' hands. What is rather special is that the food consumers receive is not fixed, but adjusted according to how the crops turn out, thereby helping to share the farmers' risk from natural disasters; they can even take part directly in production through a "Work Share" arrangement. Shareholders and farmers go beyond the traditional commercial exchange relationship, and through mutually supportive cooperation, recover the sense of community lost in America's individualist society.
In the course of CSA's development in Madison, the organization FairShare CSA Coalition (hereafter FairShare) played a very key role. This spring, we were fortunate enough to take part in and learn about how this organization operates, and to share what we saw and heard with our readers.
FairShare (Note 1) is now in its 20th year. In 1992, 8 farms interested in promoting CSA gathered together, held an information session to promote the concept of CSA to the public, and accepted share subscriptions. From the very beginning of its development, the participating farmers shared a consensus that they should not fall into destructive competition over potential customers, but should instead develop local, sustainable partnerships with one another, and so FairShare came into being. Unlike ordinary CSA farms that each go it alone, this small organization serves as a bridge of communication among farmers, carrying forward this cooperative spirit. At the same time, it also becomes a joint window onto consumers for these farms, using various activities and publications to promote CSA. Over the past 20 years, the coalition's partner farms have grown from 8 to 51, and membership has grown from more than 260 people to nearly 10,000.
The main work FairShare currently carries out consists of the following programs: the "Farm Program," the "Insurance Rebate Program," the "Partner Share Program" and the "CSA Open House." Each one is very creative and has achieved very good results, so let's look at them one by one!
Farm Program
The main goal of this program is to recruit more farms interested in running a CSA as members, so that CSA blooms everywhere in Madison. Farms that want to join the coalition in a new year must apply before the growing season; the requirements for applying are that the farm be run as a CSA and meet US Department of Agriculture (USDA) organic certification or transitional certification, while livestock farms must also meet humane husbandry standards, ensuring that safe, high-quality agricultural products can be provided to consumers. Once qualifications are met, the coalition finds experienced farms to conduct interviews, passing on experience like a hen leading chicks, and building links between old farms and new farms. The coalition also regularly holds farm visits, workshops, dinners and other activities, which not only bring the farms closer together but also bring in further training resources to guide farm management.
Insurance Rebate Program
FairShare also cooperates with local health insurance companies (the United States does not have publicly run universal health insurance; people need to insure with private health insurance companies) to promote the "Insurance Rebate Program." Any shareholder participating in a CSA farm in the coalition can, with a receipt, get 100 US dollars off their premiums each year from their own insurance company. Because people buy organic crops produced by CSA farms, they can eat healthily; CSA farms receive a subsidy from the health insurance company; and the health insurance company, through this program, improves customer health, reduces premium payout expenses, and at the same time builds a good corporate image, achieving a "win-win-win" result.
Subsidizing Low-Income Households (Partner Share Program)
So that low-income households also have the right and opportunity to enjoy safe, high-quality agricultural products, the coalition holds its "Bike the Barns" fundraising event at the end of summer and beginning of autumn every year, and the proceeds provide each low-income household with a 300 US dollar subsidy toward membership fees, lowering the threshold for them to become CSA members. This program is called the "Partner Share Program," and in 2011 nearly 200 low-income households benefited from it! In addition, by changing the cycling route every year, it also brings the farms and cyclists closer, letting more people get to know the farms and become friends with them.
CSA Open House
Every year in March, the coalition picks half a day to hold the CSA Open House. All farms that have not yet filled their membership quota gather together and each promotes itself, making it convenient for consumers to search among the various stalls for the farm that best suits their needs. The next article will introduce this year's CSA Open House in detail for everyone!
Note 1: FairShare's former name was Madison Area CSA Coalition, abbreviated MACSAC. Because the existing farms and members were not limited to the Madison area, and because the abbreviation MACSAC was very awkward for those who did not know it well, the organization chose to officially launch a new name on March 18, 2012: "FairShare CSA Coalition." In Elizabeth Henderson's book "Sharing the Harvest: A Citizen's Guide to Community Supported Agriculture," the old name MACSAC is still used.
FairShare CSA Coalition(FairShare CSA Coalition)
* This article was simultaneously published on the author's blog "A Thousand Scrolls, Ten Thousand Miles"
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