American CSA champion Elizabeth in Hsinchu: Trust and sharing are the foundation of community-supported agriculture

Lead image / Photo of Peace work farm, symbolizing that all members must go into the fields and work together, from http://www.chelseagreen.com

"Community Supported Agriculture" (CSA) is a connection between farmers and the people nearby who eat the food they produce. Robyn Van En summarized it as "food producers + food consumers + a yearly mutual commitment = community-supported agriculture and infinite possibilities." In this definition, the essence of the relationship between producers and consumers is built on mutual commitment: the farm feeds people, people support the farm, and together they share the potential risks and harvests. This does not sound like a new concept - throughout most of human history, people have always been closely connected to the land that feeds them. Farming (or fishing, or foraging) on nearby land is as basic to human survival as breathing, drinking water and reproducing life. If this basic connection breaks down, problems are certain to follow.
—--Elizabeth Henderson, quoted from the book Sharing the Harvest

Elizabeth Henderson, an important advocate of community-supported agriculture in the United States, shared the practical methods of CSA on 10/11 at the Taiwan Community Supported Agriculture Workshop in Hsinchu. Before getting into the topic, she briefly introduced her background. When Elizabeth was 30, her husband passed away. Having lost her beloved, she wanted to start over through farming. In 1986, Elizabeth joined Rose Velley CSA farm, founded by Robyn Van En (another author of "Growing Good Vegetables, Living a Good Life"). At its founding, this farm had 29 member households (she specifically added that after 23 years, they were still all members). In 1998, due to personal reasons, she was forced to leave Rose Velley farm and had to find a new place to settle.

The core members of Rose Velley farm helped her find another piece of land to start over. After a while, the landowner died of cancer, and his widow was willing to sell the land to them. This group of core members then jointly contributed funds to buy the land through a trust. Someone asked Elizabeth why everyone was willing to put in money to buy the land. She said it was because the core members had confidence in that land and in the farmer, so they were willing to contribute money to buy it.

A group of people jointly participating in building the farm

This new farm is called Peace work farm. Among the core members were professionals from the architecture and engineering fields. Together they helped Elizabeth renovate the old house, configure the electrical system, install a chimney, and share the subsequent labor and administrative work.

The core members of Peace work farm are responsible for recruiting new members and signing contracts. The spirit of the contract places great emphasis on the mutual commitment between consumers and producers:

Shareholder commitment (share payment + taking on farming risk) <=> farmer commitment (healthy food + a friendly environment).

When the farm delivers agricultural products, members drive their own cars to deliver them to pickup stations in the city, and then urban members go pick them up themselves. At this farm, everyone is emphasized to work and everyone must pay a share. But not all CSA farms do it this way. Elizabeth gave an example of one farm that has 950 shares, of which 50 shareholders work 4 hours a week for 20 shifts (about 5 months) in exchange for a whole year of food.

A flexible tiered method for calculating share payments

Peace work farm uses a tiered calculation for share payments. They estimate the farm's costs in advance and publish them to members. If 520 USD/year is the amount each shareholder should pay, they divide it into several tiers from 220 USD to 650 USD, letting members choose a tier according to their own ability and willingness. But regardless of which tier of share payment they make, the amount of food they receive is the same. Eliz also gave the example of a CSA farm in New Hampshire in the United States. Every year they hold a shareholders' meeting to discuss costs, and the members themselves decide how much they can afford, as long as the total adds up to cover the costs. But no matter how much they pay, they still receive the same amount of food. Some listeners at the scene immediately asked questions, feeling that this approach could not possibly be implemented in Taiwan. Who would be willing to pay more money but receive only the same amount of food?

But Elizabeth responded that as long as the farm discloses its financial statements, costs and calculation method, members will know how much they should pay. At her farm, the person who pays the most is not necessarily the one with the highest income, but after years of experience, the different payment tiers always average out to 520.3 USD, just a little above their budget of 520 USD. (There was a round of exclamations at the scene.)

Perhaps because this topic is related to trust among members, Eliz emphasized two key points of the spirit of CSA:

1. Trust and Sharing are the most important foundation of CSA, and the core spirit must be explained clearly from the very beginning, not left until later to tell shareholders;
2. Shareholders paying a share payment does not only mean getting food. "Protecting the ecological environment and resisting commercialized production that exploits the land" is another important spirit of CSA.

Chang Cheng-yang, director of Qimei Community College, specifically spoke in response. He believed that the CSA sessions over the past two days had discussed scale and methods, more technical aspects. Finally, in this session, trust was mentioned. Trust is the key point that enables CSA to succeed.

The difference between CSA farms and corporate organic farms

When distinguishing CSA farms from corporate organic farms, Elizabeth pointed out: "Organic must be embodied in the production process. People must treat land, the environment, and other people equally. It is not just about growing food without chemical ingredients. Ecological agriculture is friendly not only to the ecological environment, but also in how it treats people, participants and workers."

She mentioned a research report from California in the United States on CSA and corporate farms. The study classified farms by rating according to evaluation indicators of environmental friendliness and friendliness to people. The results showed that the highest-rated farms were all CSA farms, with good treatment of employees and high ecological ratings for the farms.

Some attendees also asked whether CSA communities in the United States are all related to religious belief or socialist ideals, and whether there are CSA groups similar to LGBT communities.

Elizabeth said that in the United States, one can see very diverse CSA communities, including Jewish CSA, Sufi (a non-mainstream mystical sect of Islam) CSA, and of course lesbian CSA. At Eliz's own farm, there were many lesbian couples. Some time ago, because New York State legalized same-sex marriage, the farm even prepared food for the wedding of a lesbian member. There is also a CSA for diabetes patients. This CSA began because the attending physician of this group of patients one day heard about the CSA concept and was very excited, as it finally became possible to provide his patients with the most appropriate and healthy food.

For Elizabeth, these friendly interactions among people on CSA farms are not something corporate organic farms can provide.

Elizabeth (left) and interpreter Tsai Yen-lin (right), listening attentively to attendees' questions.

Elizabeth offered several technical reminders to friends interested in pursuing CSA:

1. CSA first requires land. There must be land that can be cultivated;
2. Second, there must be a farmer with rich experience to ensure the farm can stably and continuously provide food to members every week. This requires many years of growing experience;
3. Do not plant only a single variety of one crop. Plant several more varieties. In the face of unstable climate factors, this can increase the survival rate;
4. Members who join should work together, and the number of times can be arranged according to each person's different circumstances;
5. After finding a group of people, they must participate together from the very beginning;
6. In the startup stage, members with all kinds of talents should be included, and everyone should contribute their strengths and take on work together;
7. Pickup points must be carefully considered. Pickup points in different locations represent different delivery methods and require careful thought;
8. CSA members care a great deal about food quality, so the farm must carefully handle every step (washing, delivery, refrigeration and insulation... etc.);
9. A clear introduction must be made. The farm's method of operation and what vegetables can be obtained in which season must all be explained clearly. Research in the United States points out that the more clearly consumers know what food they can get, the more willing they are to participate;

What is community-supported agriculture? (Part 1) by Elizabeth Henderson
What is community-supported agriculture? (Part 2) by Elizabeth Henderson
"Growing Good Vegetables, Living a Good Life" Authors: Robyn Van En, Elizabeth Henderson