Open AccessThe Demand For Community Supported Agriculture
Author(s) -
John M. Polimeni,
Raluca Iorgulescu Polimeni,
Richard L. Shirey,
Christina L. Trees,
W. Scott Trees
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
journal of business and economics research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 2157-8893
pISSN - 1542-4448
DOI - 10.19030/jber.v4i2.2637
Subject(s) - span (engineering) , style (visual arts) , sustainability , agriculture , economics , on demand , agricultural economics , history , engineering , ecology , archaeology , civil engineering , commerce , biology
Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) has undergone both a rapid increase in growth and interest over the last decade. As such, the amount of literature on the subject has also increased. However, there are few, if any, theoretical models of demand on CSA that have been developed from membership data. This paper uses both survey and anecdotal data of members of the Roxbury Biodynamic Farm, the second largest CSA in the United States, to present a theory of demand for CSA membership. Included in the discussion is consideration of the evidence that there is a direct relationship between production method and demand, usually a shibboleth in traditional economic analysis. Further exploration considers the possibility that over time participation influences the very nature of demand for CSA membership, and hypothesizes that this dynamic demand is a necessary but insufficient condition for the sustainability of CSA.