Encouraging Participation in Community-Supported Agriculture Schemes With New Communication Strategy

Custom-tailored communication about the personal benefits in terms of nutrition and sustainable living provided by community-supported agriculture (CSA) can motivate a variety of non-members to join the scheme.

Community-supported agriculture (CSA) has emerged as an alternative food network based on solidarity and cooperation between farmers and consumers. Consumers pay up-front to receive a regular delivery of produce while sharing the risks of the harvest with the farmers. CSA promotes socioeconomic and environmental sustainability, thus helping create a resilient food system. Despite this, CSAis still a ‘niche’ scheme in Switzerland, attracting only members of similar political persuasion and economic background, and thus remaining limited in its reach and adoption. The question was therefore posed as to whether potential members are aware of CSA schemes, and what factors would encourage them to join one.

People’s perceptions of and willingness to join CSA schemes

An experimental study was conducted by Agroscope and the University of Bern with 754 non-CSA-scheme-members from the German-speaking region of Switzerland. The study examined how different information on the benefits of CSA (nutrition, sustainability, transparency, solidarity, and community) affects people’s perceptions of CSA schemes and their willingness to join one.

The results of the study show that participants rank the personal benefits (e.g. nutrition and sustainability) of CSA schemes as more important to them than those related to solidarity with farmers, transparency and community building. However, non-scheme members consistently perceive CSAs as most beneficial for farmers, followed by society, and as least beneficial for themselves, regardless of the information provided to them. This shows that non-members do not perceive the personal benefits provided by CSA schemes as particularly striking. Despite this, it is the overall perception of benefits that provides the greatest incentive to join the scheme. Focusing on the personal benefits provided by CSA in terms of nutrition and sustainable living positively influences willingness to join. This influence can be observed in particular among younger, educated, female participants, as well as among politically conservative individuals – a fact which could ultimately promote inclusivity within CSAs. On the other hand, trust in farmers or food labels did not influence willingness to join, since trust in farmers and agriculture is already high in Switzerland and is not seen as a reason for supporting alternative food systems.

Findings show an important gap in practice

Overall, the findings reveal an important gap in practice. While CSA schemes often focus on altruistic narratives (e.g. solidarity and community), potential members are looking for tangible personal benefits. Reframing CSA messaging to include clear advantages like healthy food, personal well-being, and environmentally responsible choices could help attract a more diverse membership.