What difference does income make for Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) members in California? Comparing lower-income and higher-income households

Abstract

In the U.S. there has been considerable interest in connecting low-income households to alternative food networks (AFNs) like Community Supported Agriculture (CSA). To learn more about this possibility we conducted a statewide survey of CSA members in California. A total of 1,149 members from 41 CSAs responded. Here we answer the research question: How do CSA members' (1) socioeconomic and demographic backgrounds, (2) household conditions potentially interfering with membership, and (3) CSA membership experiences vary between lower-income households (LIHHs) and higher-income households (HIHHs)? We divided members into LIHHs (making under $50,000 annually) and HIHHs (making over $50,000 annually). We present comparisons of LIHHs' and HIHHs' (1) employment, race/ethnicity, household composition and education, use of food support, and enjoyment of food-related activities; (2) conditions interfering with membership and major life events; and (3) sources of information influencing decision to join, reasons for joining, ratings of importance of and satisfaction with various CSA attributes, gaps between importance of and satisfaction with various CSA attributes, valuing of the share and willingness to pay more, and impacts of membership. We find that LIHHs are committed CSA members, often more so than HIHHs, and that CSA members in California are disproportionately White, but that racial disproportionality decreases as incomes increase. We conclude by considering: (1) the economic risks that LIHHs face in CSA membership, (2) the intersection of economic 2 risks with race/ethnicity and cultural coding in CSA; and (3) the possibilities of increasing participation of LIHH in CSA.

Gaining and Maintaining a Competitive Edge: Evidence from CSA Members and Farmers on Local Food Marketing Strategies

“…Corresponding with prior research, we found members and farmers to be motivated by a range of personal, social, environmental, and economic objectives [13][14][15][16]20,[25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33][34]. As noted by Ostrom [15] (p. 109), for many, the decision to participate in CSA is based on a "complex interplay between self-interest and social values".…”

“…Promotion: As has been observed in prior research [16,28], members and farmers in our study discussed the power of marketing through social networks. This reinforces the importance of building a community of recurring members that serve as ambassadors for the CSA and engage in indirect promotion by sharing their positive experiences with their networks.…”

“…Our study was not designed to ascertain how these factors might influence participation among prospective and former CSA members, but this is an important area of inquiry. Prior studies have found that CSA price is a key factor for participation [16,25,33,47], particularly for lower income households [28,45]. However, competing on price may not be practical, considering the low profit margins in CSA [14,15,20].…”

“…Previous research has explored the reasons why consumers choose to participate in CSA. Studies from the U.S. consistently have found that in addition to freshness and taste, those who participate in CSA are motivated by a desire for produce free of synthetic chemicals, health priorities, concerns for the environment, interest in supporting farmers and the local economy and economic considerations [16,[25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33][34]. However, members' motivations are not homogeneous.…”

“…The abovementioned changes to local food and CSA markets highlight the need for inquiry into how CSAs function for the communities that they serve [28] and how CSA farmers cope with competitive pressures and evolving member demands [20]. Indeed, we know little about these two aspects despite the mounting evidence of competitive pressures that will likely have important implications for farmers.…”