THURSDAY, JAN 26, 2023: NOTE TO FILE
Module 3-25
Community supported and urban agriculture
In a typical Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) system a group of people form a cooperative, which grows food in a sustainable way, with the group taking responsibility for organising and paying the costs of the food production. It is sometimes called subscription farming. The CSA needs to obtain the use of land, the services of a farmer or farmers, working capital for machinery, storage and distribution, administration and also voluntary help on the land at peak labour times provided by the CSA members. A CSA's focus is usually on a system of weekly delivery or pick-up of vegetables and fruit, as shown in Plate 5.5.
Payment of each person’s or family’s subscription will probably be at the beginning of the year to enable supplies to be purchased and in monthly instalments through the season. Within this basic structure, the main variations will be in how much the subscriber group puts in voluntary work versus opting to pay for all the labour.
The first CSA projects began during the early 1970s in Germany. They were connected with communities that had grown out of the anthroposophical movement created by Rudolf Steiner in the twenties and thirties. In some ways they can be seen to predate the ecovillage movement as they had a clear intention to combine all necessities of life (food production, shelter, education, job creation, etc.) within them, but were not communes and so needed their own systems for distribution and finance (more on biodynamic CSA).
The idea was taken up in the US during the eighties with perhaps 60 CSAs in existence by 1990. By 1997 there were more than 1,000 in the US involving some 100,000 households, with many more in other parts of the world. This growth has also been accompanied by the development of many variations on the basic theme. Local Harvest in the USA links CSA schemes to consumers who would like to join.
One radical variation has the supporters divide up the costs of farming according to their ability to pay and then allows them to take the produce they need according to their family size. This represents the end of the spectrum requiring the most trust and community. At the other end of the scale, the many “box schemes”, which have come into existence supplying a weekly box of vegetables to order, can be seen as an urban development of CSA principles without the direct connection between consumers and land. You can see a short video (11min) below by the Soil Association introducing one example of a small CSA scheme in Devon, England.
5.6. Urban Agriculture
Across the world, citizens of towns and cities are coming together to grow food and build community to counteract socio-economic degradation and to ensure food security. Permaculture design principles can be used in any location and play a crucial role in establishing community resilience and energy descent. This form of urban agriculture is taking many forms and shapes; from private and community owned options; and across, balcony spaces, rooftops, allotments, sidewalks, common areas, community gardens, etc.
Small gardens, balcony spaces and rooftop gardens often make use of movable wicking-type planter boxes, with a compost worm tower if space permits, which requires minimal irrigation maintenance. The inside of the planter boxes / barrels should first be waterproofed with a plastic membrane and then lined with a geotextile membrane (similar to a thin blanket), which creates the wicking action that draws water upwards to the plant roots – a closed loop system - as shown in the sketch in Figure 5.6a. An example of a worm compost tower within a planter barrel and a vertical planter is shown in Figure 5.6b.
Figure 5.6a: Wicking planter box
Figure 5.6b: Wicking planter bucket with worm compost tower (Source: Urban Green Space)
Allotment gardens are found across Europe under various names and each have an interesting history depending upon the urban circumstances at the time. The underlying land of an allotment or community garden is usually owned by the municipality or local parish, which zoned for agriculture, is leased individually or to a collective. The basic difference between an allotment and a community garden, is that allotments are small land parcels which are tended individually (anywhere from 12 to 400m2), whilst community gardens are tended collectively by a group of people or an association / entity. The legalities of privately owned or leased spaces are usually easier to manage than community managed spaces.
These urban agricultural spaces can transform the urban landscape by creating much needed green spaces, thereby providing a wonderful space for people to meet, socialise, exchange gardening tips, recycle organic waste to compost, etc. According to several independent studies, the yields of bio-intensive allotments and community gardens in urban areas have shown to be up to twice that of conventional farmland and contribute significantly to family’s fresh fruit and vegetables. A collage of allotment and community gardening has been compiled to showcase these projects across the world.
Module 3, lesson 26
