CSA = COMMUNITY SUPPORTED AGRICULTURE
Concept, History, Structural Theory...
For years, the ecological movement and the biodynamic movement in particular sought to find ways - indeed models of farming - that would allow small and medium sized farmers to produce the highest quality foods the best way they knew how - and in accordance with the unique local conditions - without the fear of bankruptcy. In other words and successful socio-economic model.
It is just not good enough to tell the next generation: do what is ethical, but be prepared to be poor or go broke in a short period. We need to create ethical models that work economically! This was the motivation!
Various individuals were experimenting with different approaches to this problem. Rudolf Steiner gave numerous talks, lectures, workshops and published profusely on the problem of social economics, on an ethical economy of the future and developed what he called the "three-fold social organism" ideal - on the basis of a process he described as "associative economics."
In Germany, Switzerland and elsewhere numerous farms had taken up parts of these ideas and ideals and developed what they called "community farms." Many people were studying these ideas - and ideas from such pioneers as Silvio Gesell and others.
In the mid 1980's three projects sprang up within months of each other: (1) in Great Barrington, Massachusetts, (2) in Santa Rosa, California and (3) in Wilton, New Hampshire. Each one ended up calling their project "community supported agriculture" a name developed in Great Barrington.
In Great Barrington, Jan Van der Tuin came to share his vision of three-fold economics for farming and together with John Root, Jr. began looking for land and support. John offered capital, the use of his tractor and physical help from himself and his community home. He and his special needs adults were the actual first workers in the csa there. They got Robyn van En to lease them part of her farm and she became increasingly involved. Hugh Radcliffe was asked to be the gardener and Charlotte Zanecchia agreed to help organize the consumers. I was honored to join them in helping form the ideas, develop the discourse with the consumers and later also helped to organize several of the next csa's in Conneticut, Pennsylvania, and Maryland. One of my strong beliefs that came as a result of our many many discussions, study sessions and work with the consumers, was that we could take three significant aspects of Steiner's ideas and really apply them to a modern model that would work - even though everyone thought we were crazy:
(1) Transparent Production / Transparent Budget (2) Common Pricing (3) Shared Risk and Reward
more to come....
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