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Introduction: This study sheds light on the challenges faced by women in alternative food networks (AFNs) applying organic farming in Berlin Brandenburg. They engage in AFNs as producers, consumers, and prosumers (producerconsumers). Literature indicates that individuals in farming face obstacles such as limited ownership, traditional gender roles, undervalued contributions, disparities in recognition and compensation, and barriers to leadership. The objective of this research is to understand the realities, self-perceptions, and conditions experienced by individuals in AFNs and organic farming. This study examines contextual factors, participation levels, decision-making processes, leadership dynamics, and impacts related to these participants. Method: Using qualitative content analysis, interviews were conducted with active female respondents in three types of AFN: community-supported agriculture (CSA), food cooperatives (FCs), and self-harvest gardens (SHG). Results: The interviewees expressed optimism about their involvement but emphasized the need for increased governmental support and community engagement. Participants in CSAs and FCs reported stronger producerconsumer connections and community building, while self-harvest gardeners sought personal growth and access to garden spaces. Conclusion: Interview data highlighted demands for gender equality improvements and support mechanisms. Addressing these challenges and promoting equal status for them can enhance their contributions to community building and localized food production. Recognizing their efforts fosters societal inclusiveness and progress. Understanding and supporting individuals in organic farming AFNs, we can move towards a future where their contributions are properly acknowledged. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

After the 1960s, breeding activities carried out on many crops, including wheat, and the use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides, saw increased criticism of the negative consequences in terms of nutrition, social, and environmental impacts. There is a current re-emphasis upon changing the methods of flour and bread production technologies, and wheat landrace varieties have made a resurgence. Wheat landrace varieties have become widespread and create the demand for their consumption as an alternative to industrial wheat. Producers have come together to form collectives of different structures and seek ways to expand production of wheat landraces. As a result, alternative food consumption communities have become established in which consumers can access wheat landrace products. The factors related to the development of wheat, flour, bulgur, bread, etc. should be put forward to consumers and producers. The fieldwork of this research is based on five community supported food groups formed by consumers in the İzmir province of Turkey, and associations/groups that produce wheat varieties in Çanakkale, Balıkesir and Kars provinces. The aim of the research is to identify common problems that reduce the separation between wheat production and consumption and how to increase the use of wheat landraces and their products by using participatory action research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Community-supported agriculture (CSA) has emerged as a viable solution for addressing the agricultural challenges faced by countries like Indonesia. This study uses the wellestablished unified theory of acceptance and use of technology (UTAUT2) model to examine the interest in CSA of potential customers in Indonesia. A standardized questionnaire was distributed to 1200 respondents, and the data were analyzed using structural equation model-partial least square (SEM-PLS) in SmartPLS 4.0 software. The results capture potential CSA consumer interest and will help to improve CSA development strategies in Indonesia. The model explains 44.4% of customers' intentions, and identifies performance expectancy as the decisive factor in customers' willingness to participate in CSA. Performance expectancy (0.292), hedonic motivation (0.262), social influence (0.259), and facilitating conditions (0.086) positively influence customers' interest in participating in a CSA program. The adoption of CSA programs by both farmers and customers could be increased by implementing regulations that provide tax incentives and subsidies, offering training on sustainable farming practices, facilitating the establishment of distribution channels, and establishing guidelines for fair price and quality standards. This study shows the high potential for the implementation of CSA in Indonesia. It could also be used as a foundation for the development of new policies regarding sustainable agriculture markets in Indonesia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Family and Consumer Sciences (FCS) Extension educators have a long history of providing education to help individuals, families, and communities. Since the 1980s, however, FCS has been described as at a crossroads, lacking a unified vision of how to maintain relevance in a changing society. FCS programs have had reduced enrollment and attendance, leaving FCS educators seeking new audiences. Many workplaces now have employee wellness and education programs that are an emerging opportunity for FCS educators. FCS is inherently interdisciplinary, bringing together many foodrelated topics such as cooking, nutrition education, and food preservation. This interdisciplinary focus makes local food systems an important opportunity for new FCS educational programs. Workplace community supported agriculture (CSA) programs, which connect local farmers and employees via employer-sponsored cost-offsets, are an emerging model increasingly adopted by employers to support employee health and wellness. Where they have been implemented, however, they have often been complemented by only limited education, in part due to lack of a formal local food--focused health and wellness curriculum. The purpose of this study was to gain information to guide the development of a local food health and wellness education program that would complement a workplace CSA program. The study assessed potential workplace wellness program participants' perceived knowledge, attitudes, and barriers to purchasing and cooking local food, and the types of information that would be most useful in the education program and participants' preferred program format. Respondents had positive attitudes about local food, but limited knowledge about how to purchase and prepare it. Respondents indicated that an education program that provided information on those topics, as well as information about unusual fruits and vegetables grown locally and how to reduce food waste would be most useful to them. Respondents preferred online program offerings during weekday lunchtimes. These findings provide guidance for designing a local food health and wellness education program tailored to this audience. We conclude by sharing some recommendations for developing or delivering programs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Community-supported agriculture (CSA) has emerged as a pivotal model for sustainable and humanistic agricultural practices, emphasizing the symbiotic relationship between food production, consumption, and sustainable ecosystems. Despite the growing interest, a comprehensive analysis of research themes and trends within the CSA framework remains sparse. This paper undertakes a systematic review of CSA literature from 1999 to 2023, identifying evolving research hotspots, dominant themes, and prospective directions by keyword analysis to corroborate Maslow's hierarchy of needs theory. The research analysis location is categorized into four temporal phases, revealing a geographical expansion from North America to encompass Asia, Africa, and other continents. This expansion corroborates Maslow's theory, illustrating a global shift from fulfilling basic physiological needs towards recognizing sustainable practices, particularly in developing regions. The results of temporal trends (5 phases) and the hotspots of keyword analysis support each other by showing a societal shift from basic sustenance to a deeper understanding of nutrition and diet. Most of the recent research keywords are grouped into the "environment" and "health and education" categories, indicating an increasing emphasis on transforming the food system and nutrition education. This review suggests conducting an integrated analysis that links the various stages of the food supply chain with the criteria outlined in the Sustainable Agriculture Matrix (SAM). It highlights that the "environment" theme is a stage of building up esteem and self-realization that needs to be unfolded in the future, given that most research on community-supported agriculture (CSA) focuses on the "economy and society" aspect and consumption stage, which burnish self-morality in the theory of Maslow. Overall, this review proposes an analysis of the relevance among different subject categories and between food supply chain stages, which reveals that the trend of research under CSA development is accorded to the theory of Maslow's hierarchy of needs and calls for a more holistic approach to agricultural research that considers ecological, health, and social imperatives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACTIn cities, a mosaic of different types of urban agriculture can be found. However, knowledge about advantages and disadvantages of the different types is still fragmented. This paper introduces an integrative evaluation framework for assessing the environmental, social, and economic sustainability of urban agriculture by applying a multi-criteria analysis based on an Analytic Hierarchy Process and a participatory approach. Based on a German case study and on the examples of vertical farming and community-supported agriculture, the results suggest that sustainable urban agriculture is a multi-dimensional approach informed by strong sustainability that places nature in the focus. Thus, the environmental dimension received the highest weight, followed by the social and, lastly, the economic dimension. Regarding the sub-criteria, species diversity achieved the highest total weight and food quality and safety the lowest. Conceptually, this paper provides scientific fundamentals for a systematic comparative evaluation of different types of agriculture for sustainable urban development.

Abstract In the context of the urgent need to establish sustainable food systems, community-supported agriculture (CSA), in which consumers share risks with producers, has gained increasing attention. Understanding the factors that influence consumer participation in CSA is crucial, yet the complete picture and interrelations of these factors remain unclear in existing studies. This research adopts a scoping review and the KJ method to elucidate the factors influencing consumer participation in CSA and to theorize consumer participation. In particular, we focus on the dynamics of individual decision-making for participation, under the premise that individuals are embedded in socio-cultural environments. We examine the decision-making process based on the seesaw of expected gains and losses from participation, along with the reflexivity to the individual and the process of updating decision-making post-participation. Our study highlights how individual decision-making for participation is influenced by relationships with others within the embedded socio-cultural environment, as well as by attachment and connection to the community. It also shows that discrepancies between expectations and experiences post-participation, and the transformation of the social capital, promote the updating of decision-making processes. In addition, among the factors identified in this study for participation in CSA, the decision to participate was heavily influenced by expectations of “variety of ingredients,” suggesting that other factors such as “food education and learning opportunities,” “contribution to environmental and social issues,” and “connections with people and nature” had little impact. Although there are limitations, the insights gained from this study offer profound implications for stakeholders and provide valuable insights for more sustainable and efficient CSA practices.

Based on data collected from 447 parent-child households in Guangzhou and Shenzhen with questionnaire, constructing and validating a mediating effect model. The results show that both course demand and social demand positively influence the willingness to buy CSA products. Further analysis show that the willingness to participate in parent-child studying and researching activities fully mediates both the relationship of course demand and social demand with willingness to consume CSA products, Therefore, parent-child studying and researching activities which are able to satisfy both consumers’ course and social demand can play a good role in connecting rural and urban areas and promoting the willingness to buy CSA products as well. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) is an emerging model within alternative food networks (AFNs). It shapes close relationships between food producers and consumers, thereby contributing to food sovereignty and agri-food system transformations. Despite rapid growth from about 10 to over 500 CSAs in just over a decade, the model in Germany still remains niche. We argue that further and faster scaling up requires better understanding of its diversity, yet a comprehensive conceptualization of CSA types is lacking, with insufficient differentiation in research and practice. Methods: This study employs a transdisciplinary mixed-methods approach (literature, qualitative, and quantitative data) in cooperation with the German CSA Network. By integrating organizational perspectives, we found that CSAs are highly complex and diverse organizations. Therefore, we firstly aimed at identifying characteristics that we summarized in a CSA framework. In a second stage, we used this framework as guiding structure for co-developing a survey with the Network covering 70 participating CSAs. Results: As the defining characteristic within the CSA framework, community financing (domain A) clarifies the uniqueness of the CSA model, thus enables delimitation from other AFN forms. Then differentiation characteristics (domain B) encompass the diversity of CSA configurations. CSA governance (domain B1), regarding the predominant characteristic of organizational governance, distinguish between Producer-led, Consumer-led, and Integrated (all-in-one) CSA types. Varying characteristics (domain B2) specify CSA configurations and enable additional distinction between CSAs. Based on the developed CSA framework, the survey results verify the applicability of governance types in particular, while confirming a high level of diversity of differentiating characteristics in general. Discussion: This study can be used to reveal existing generalizations about CSAs, providing a starting point for more nuanced and critical views in research and practice. When seen against the background of AFN and food sovereignty discourses in particular, CSA is an alternative production-distribution model, but not every CSA is governed or structured in alternative ways. CSAs can simultaneously contain both more conventional, traditional elements, as well as more alternative elements. Moreover, the framework provides easy-to-access differentiation criteria for matching members with their most suitable CSAs and vice versa. Overall, this study illustrates that CSA cannot be considered as homogeneous AFN type but be rather marked as a diverse field of its own. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Julie Guthman's book, "Agrarian Dreams: The Paradox of Organic Farming in California," challenges the idealized perception of organic farming and exposes its flaws. The book argues that the commercialization and pursuit of higher prices in the organic industry have compromised its original values. Guthman also critiques the notion that small farms can address the environmental and social issues associated with conventional agriculture, emphasizing the importance of land and labor conditions. This influential book has had a significant impact on critical agri-environmental scholarship and broader critiques of neoliberal governance. The text also discusses Guthman's other works, "Weighing In" and "Wilted," which respectively criticize dietary fads and the industrial food system, and examine the strawberry production system's reliance on harmful chemicals and genetic manipulation. While the text acknowledges Guthman's contributions to geography and her dedication to research, it questions her use of assemblage theory in her analysis. [Extracted from the article]

The article discusses the importance of farm entrepreneurship and agribusiness management in the agricultural sector. It highlights the need for farmers and agribusinesses to integrate innovation, sustainability, and effective management into their practices. The article emphasizes the role of entrepreneurial competencies, such as financial management and marketing expertise, in successful farm management. It also explores the impact of human capital innovation, technological advancements, and inclusive and sustainable entrepreneurship on the agricultural industry. The article concludes by emphasizing the importance of equipping farm entrepreneurs with the necessary skills and promoting practices that contribute to resilience, innovation, and community development in agriculture. [Extracted from the article]

Community supported agriculture, ecovillages, and renewable energy cooperatives are all instances of sustainable materialism initiatives. Currently, a wealth of research assesses their prefigurative dimensions and documents their market strategies; yet there is little explanation of why such initiatives rise and fall over time. This article aims to fill this gap. To do so, I investigate the lifespans of renewable energy cooperative projects in Denmark and France. Based on a qualitative comparative analysis, I argue that the rise and fall of these projects can be explained by the evolution of one type of economic power: the power of orientation, or the ability of collective organizations to simultaneously act in and act on a policy regime to create market opportunities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the context of the urgent need to establish sustainable food systems, community-supported agriculture (CSA), in which consumers share risks with producers, has gained increasing attention. Understanding the factors that influence consumer participation in CSA is crucial, yet the complete picture and interrelations of these factors remain unclear in existing studies. This research adopts a scoping review and the KJ method to elucidate the factors influencing consumer participation in CSA and to theorize consumer participation. In particular, we focus on the dynamics of individual decision-making for participation, under the premise that individuals are embedded in socio-cultural environments. We examine the decision-making process based on the seesaw of expected gains and losses from participation, along with the reflexivity to the individual and the process of updating decision-making post-participation. Our study highlights how individual decision-making for participation is influenced by relationships with others within the embedded socio-cultural environment, as well as by attachment and connection to the community. It also shows that discrepancies between expectations and experiences post-participation, and the transformation of the social capital, promote the updating of decision-making processes. In addition, among the factors identified in this study for participation in CSA, the decision to participate was heavily influenced by expectations of "variety of ingredients," suggesting that other factors such as "food education and learning opportunities," "contribution to environmental and social issues," and "connections with people and nature" had little impact. Although there are limitations, the insights gained from this study offer profound implications for stakeholders and provide valuable insights for more sustainable and efficient CSA practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Agroecology is receiving increasing attention and recognition as a concept for transitions to more sustainable agricultural and food systems. There is however a lack of characterization of agroecology in agricultural and food systems, while integrated and holistic measurements of their sustainability are scarce. Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) is considered to be a system explicitly based on agroecological principles and practices which shows potential in the face of the sustainability challenges in agriculture and food systems, but its link with agroecology and its holistic sustainability performance have remained understudied. Therefore, we applied the Tool for Agroecology Performance Evaluation (TAPE) to 24 Community Supported Agriculture farms in the Flanders region of Belgium in order to characterize agroecology and to assess their multidimensional sustainability performance. Our results show that Community Supported Agriculture farms can be characterized as advanced agroecological systems, highlighted by their high to very high performance on many of the elements of agroecology. Moreover, our results show positive outcomes on several sustainability criteria across environmental, social and economic dimensions such as soil health, presence of natural vegetation and pollinators and ecologicalmanagement of pests and diseases, as well as dietary diversity and profitability criteria like gross value, added value and net revenue. The integration and role of animals in these agroecosystems and the importance of - and dependence on - labor are however identified as two critical aspects regarding the agroecological transitions and sustainability of Community Supported Agriculture. Our findings emphasize the exemplary role Community Supported Agriculture could play in broader agroecological transitions, which, coupled with their high performance on several sustainability criteria, highlight the potential contribution of Community Supported Agriculture, and by extension of agroecology itself, to more sustainable agricultural and food systems in Flanders and beyond. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Japan’s teikei movement, recognized as a source of inspiration for Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) in Western countries, is now entering its fifth decade. Built upon trust and shared values, teikei has continued to rely on mutually supportive relationships between organic producers and consumers. The movement’s commitments were originally articulated through the ten principles of teikei, which offer a roadmap to create food systems based on solidarity principles going beyond market transactions. Despite a decline in numbers, teikei groups continue to operate in the midst of societal shifts that are altering food practices and consumption patterns. These changes have had an impact on the implementation of the ten principles and on the power dynamics between producers and consumers. Methods: This research investigates how such shifts have affected the development of alternative food systems in Japan, the evolution of teikei as a social movement, and the tensions that arise from contrasting notions of agri-food system alterity rooted in decommodified relationships versus market-based transactions. We employ the ten principles as a framework to investigate the transformations of some representative teikei groups over time, and identify three types of shifts: relational, operational, and ideological. These shifts show how different teikei actors have been engaging in realizing the vision of building sustainable agri-food systems through alternative market relations. Results: The shifts also underscore the fluid and situated nature of agri-food system alterity within historical, geographical, and cultural relational spaces. The current variations of teikei configurations and the progressive diversification of approaches to address the challenges of upholding the original principles demonstrate the movement’s adaptability over time. However, they also demonstrate the necessity to strike a compromise between conflicting needs. Discussion: The development of the teikei movement is not only important from an historical and geographically-situated perspective, but also as a dynamic and evolving experiment in the potential and challenges of active food citizenship. The democratic decision-making processes embedded within teikei principles and practices offer a valuable model for understanding how individuals enact their food citizenship and contribute to ongoing transformation of the agri-food system. Simultaneously, these shifts also serve as a warning against how democratic principles can be eroded by conventionalization and neoliberalization, and about the assumptions that arise during the process of building alternative agri-food systems, such as gendered labor. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) seeks to address injustices in the food system by supporting small-scale farmers applying agroecological practices through a long-term partnership: a community of members covers the cost of production and receives a share of the harvest throughout the season in return. Despite an orientation towards a more just and inclusive food system, the existing literature points towards a rather homogeneous membership in CSA. A majority of CSAs tends to involve (upper) middle-class consumers with above average education and income levels. Low income is still a major obstacle in joining a CSA. Membership diversification through social support actions is one possible way. Our main objective is to systematize and appraise social support actions of the CSA movement. Taking the CSA principles as a starting point, our main research question is: How do social support actions in CSAs operate in terms of social inclusion and what obstacles and challenges are associated with them? The theory of strategic action fields assists in describing how the CSA movement is positioning itself as an actor in and across neighboring strategic action fields. The CSA movement is clearly positioned in the Food Sovereignty field. By shifting the focus from justice to farmers to justice for members, the CSA movement is now also exploring the Food Justice field. Indeed, the CSAs' contribution to the food justice movement is still largely uncharted. In our results, we identify both social support actions that are already implemented in the CSA movement in different countries, and the challenges that are associated with these actions. We pinpoint a classification of social support actions implemented by CSA organizers to increase access to their initiatives. We make a distinction between the emancipatory actions that empower beneficiaries and contribute to a systemic change, and punctual, charitable interventions that neither affect the structure of a CSA nor the food system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Strategies for transforming capitalist economies often struggle with scaling up more socially just and ecologically sustainable alternatives. To avoid being stuck in a “local trap”, many prefigurative initiatives form larger networks and coalitions. Agroecological practices, such as community-supported agriculture (CSA), have been especially expansive in recent years. However, since most scholarship on the growing CSA networks focuses primarily on their development and positive achievements, we learn little about their encountered challenges and their strategies for overcoming them. This article therefore investigates the causes and extent of “network failure”, including barriers to collaboration and potential responses, among CSA networks in the UK and Germany. It draws on qualitative case studies, based on interviews, observation and document analysis. The article finds that CSA networks operate well at national and local level, but have experienced relative network failure at regional level, and encounter regular barriers to collaboration due to capacity limitations, differences and competition between members, all of which they are trying to address.

Community-supported agriculture (CSA) represents a collaborative model where local farms and community members form partnerships to facilitate the direct delivery of fresh produce from farms to consumers. This study primarily investigates the experiences of current CSA members, focusing on the key factors influencing their retention intentions. Employing a convergent parallel mixed methods approach, this study gathers and analyzes both quantitative data (such as factors affecting members' retention intentions) and qualitative data (derived from interviews reflecting members' perceptions of their CSA experiences). The integration of these datasets provides a comprehensive understanding of the factors that shape CSA membership dynamics. The research findings underscore that Convenience, Product Quality, and Positive Interactions are pivotal factors that contribute to members' Intentions to continue their CSA memberships. These insights are crucial for enhancing the services provided to CSA members and hold significant implications for the broader scope of CSA membership research. This study not only fills a critical gap in understanding the Chinese CSA context but also contributes to the global discourse on sustainable agriculture practices and community engagement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Short food supply chains (SFSCs) are a still developing phenomenon in the world of food production and distribution. They involve a direct connection between local farmers and consumers, with minimal intermediaries involved. SFSCs have gained significant interest in recent years due to their potential to promote sustainable agriculture and support local communities. As a result, many governments, organisations, and individuals have been exploring ways to develop and promote these chains as a viable alternative to conventional food supply chains. However, it is still unclear how SFSCs products are perceived differently by producers and consumers: what makes SFSCs products more desirable? Starting from a European project (SmartChain), answers from twenty questionnaires from SFSCs actors across Europe were analysed to understand the strengths and weaknesses of SFSCs products according to the producers. From their answers, 18 quality criteria referred to SFSCs products were obtained and then proposed to consumers through a second questionnaire. The second questionnaire aimed to better understand whether the producers' points of view matched the consumers' points of view. From the analysis of the results, it was possible to understand what criteria were considered quality attributes by producers and consumers. Organic production and the presence of both trained and vulnerable personnel were not particularly relevant to the quality perception of SFSCs products. The storage method, the assortment range, and the processing of the products were not evaluated as quality criteria. The consumers who were interviewed perceived the quality of a food product coming from an SFSC linked to the characteristics of the social context of the product. They associated products sold in SFSCs with non-processed food. Overall, such a survey can be considered a useful tool to deepen our knowledge about short food supply chains and offers several ideas for further studies and analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a conceptualization of radical food democracy (RFD) which links the diverse economies approach of Gibson-Graham with Tully's notion of diverse citizenship. Despite its invaluable contribution to theorizing the role of alternative food networks (AFNs) in transforming unsustainable industrial food systems, the diverse economies scholarship has been criticized for essentializing the autonomy of alternative economic practices--hence risking to confound emancipatory social change with punctuated forms of "local," "quality," "organic certified" products, which nevertheless remain embedded in market-mediated capitalist relations, and displacement and/or deferral of negative impacts. This paper aims to address such critiques, contending that the realization of RFD requires both (1) the experimentation with new economic practices that carve out food economies alternative to the working logic of capital accumulation, and (2) the cultivation of new political subjects capable of universalizing these particular struggles. After situating various existing practices associated with food democracy in a framework of various modes of democratic citizenship, we underpin our understanding of RFD with a theory of change informed by Bob Jessop's strategic-relational approach to social structures, agents' reflexive actions, and their contingency. Following a critical scientific approach to the social role of academics, this theoretical framework is illustrated using a case study from Germany. The empirical work draws on participant observation and semi-structured interviews with leaders of Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) cooperatives and Food Policy Council (FPC) networks conducted in Cologne, Berlin, and Frankfurt in 2018-2020. To conclude, this paper argues that the emancipatory potential of food democracy should cultivate both lighthouse alternative economic practices that are connected with people's everyday lives, and political imagination that dares to critically engage with existing institutions. Likewise, RFD praxis requires a constant back and forth between the ideational and the practical, the abstract and the concrete, the actionable and the analytical, to challenge both the symbolic-discursive and the material dimensions of capitalist agri-food systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Modern wheat varieties developed since the 1960s have increased yields but have also brought with them serious ecological, social and health problems. Local wheat varieties must be produced, developed, conserved and disseminated by farmers. In this research the pioneering farmer/consumer communities in Çanakkale, Balıkesir and Kars provinces and some community supported agriculture groups in Izmir province active in dissemination of local wheat varieties and breads and other products are examined. Participatory action research methodology was used among producer groups and food communities. The research question was developed through common problems and solutions by involving producers and consumers during the field research in line with participatory action research. The local wheat production of producer groups and the processes of supplying their products to the market were carefully analyzed and this information was shared with food groups. In the food groups, ways to increase the consumption of local wheat products were sought with the information shared. As a result, it is seen that pioneer groups that ensure direct marketing of products from farmers to consumers, organize farmers, work holistically and increase women's participation are more successful in the geographical dissemination of local wheat varieties and ensuring seed sovereignty. In consumer groups, it was observed that understanding the production process and identifying problems related to consumption through focus group studies initially increased the consumption of local wheat products. However, the high cost of bread made from local wheat varieties constitutes one of the biggest obstacles. Collaboration between consumers and food groups with local producers can increase the spread of the production and consumption of local wheat. Local governments can also play an important role in promoting local wheat and its products. One of these supports could be participatory plant breeding. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Community-supported agriculture (CSA) initiatives are spaces where diverse work relations are performed. From a postcapitalist perspective, these initiatives attempt to create alternative-capitalist and non-capitalist work relations next to capitalist ones. While analyses of work relations in CSA abound, it remains uncertain how such diversification is made possible and how it is shaped by the micro-politics of and power relations in these initiatives. This paper addresses this gap by analysing how power shapes transformations to postcapitalist work relations in CSA. It provides substantial empirical evidence of multiple manifestations of power enabling or constraining postcapitalist work relations through a comparative case study of three CSA initiatives in Portugal. Results show that while CSA creates postcapitalist work relations that are non-alienated, non-monetised and full of care, they insufficiently unmake unbalanced power relations established in capitalist work relations. This paper argues that, when establishing postcapitalist work relations, the selected CSA initiatives could benefit from actively deconstructing internal hierarchies, de-centralising decision-making power from farm owners and addressing oppressive power relations that are ossified in their local and cultural context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Community-supported agriculture (CSA) is a grassroots response to the threat the global industrial agri-food system poses to smallholders. The degrowth community, calling for a radical transformation away from the environmentally destructive and socially unjust primacy of economic growth in current societies, has started to pay tribute to CSA, commonly considering it an embodiment of degrowth ideas. However, the CSA movement does not reciprocate the interest of the degrowth community. This article therefore undertakes a systematic analysis of the potential for a coalition between CSA and degrowth in Germany. We draw on social movement theories to compare both movements' ideological and strategic alignment, as well as the conducive and/or hindering factors for coalition building. We find that the ideologies and political strategies of the two movements are not aligned, which manifests in their main frames and action repertoires, among other areas, which are articulated at different levels of abstraction; CSA has a practical focus on the safeguarding of smallholder agriculture, while degrowth more abstractly centres on the growth-dependent economy. Scarce resources, differing forms of internal organisation, and a lack of knowledge about degrowth on the side of CSA represent further obstacles to entering a coalition. At the same time, our analysis shows existing social ties and an initial ideological alignment between the CSA movement and sufficiency-oriented degrowth. We conclude that, despite prevailing differences, the two movements seem complementary, and that entering a coalition would bring with it the benefits of combining practice- and discourse-driven social change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Much change has occurred in the recent past around food systems at the local level. As interest continues to rise, we were curious to examine connections of local food systems and well-being in the context of the places they operate at the state level. Health is a central component of food well-being. In this article, we focus on physical well-being. We explore the connection between food systems, as represented by farmers markets (FMs), community-supported agriculture (CSAs), and physical well-being using state level data. To investigate these relationships, we conducted an ordinal logistic regression model analyzing 2016 data from the United States Department of Agriculture for the 50 states. The results of this study suggest that there is an inconclusive relationship at the state level. While local FMs and CSAs may increase physical well-being at the state level, we did not find this in our study. This finding adds to the body of literature where the majority of the studies in this area are case studies, ethnographies, and smaller studies using some regional data and small samples for local data. We believe that this conceptual work will allow for future empirical studies to build upon this study to conduct further empirical work examining regional state and local datasets for more conclusive findings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The investigations were carried out to evaluate the 28 F1 hybrids of pumpkin, which were grown in a randomized complete block design with three replications during Zaid 2021 at the main experiment station, Department of Vegetable Science, Kalyanpur, CSA University of Agriculture and Technology, Kanpur (U.P.). Observations were recorded on nineteen quantitative traits viz., days to first male flower appearance, days to first female flower appearance, node number to first male flower appearance, node number to first female flower appearance, vine length, internodal length, branches per plant, days to first harvest, average fruit weight, fruits/plant, equatorial circumference of fruit, polar circumference of fruit, flesh thickness, total soluble solids, dry matter content, moisture content, seeds per fruit, specific gravity and fruit yield per plant. The highest fruit yield per plant was recorded in hybrids viz. Azad Pumpkin-1 x P-40-16, Azad Pumpkin-1 x Punjab Samrat, P-40-16 x Punjab Samrat, Azad Pumpkin-1 x P-35-16, Narendra Agrim x Punjab Samrat and Azad Pumpkin-1 x DVRP-2-5 in F1, exhibited significant and desirable heterosis in respect to standard variety with days to first male flower appearance, days to first female flower appearance, node number to first female flower appearance and days to first fruit harvest. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) is a global movement that brings together consumers and farmers around the same ideal: to offer a new form of economy, in a joint action for the production and marketing of food. Thus, to better understand this movement, we propose to investigate the work done by CSA Nossa Horta, an association located in the city of Belo Horizonte (Minas Gerais), which contributes to the construction of a differentiated network for the production and commercialization of food, as well as to analyze the relationships established therein. For this, we opted for qualitative research as a methodological approach, using semi-structured interviews and participant observation. The results showed that CSA Nossa Horta, besides supporting agroecological production and short marketing circuits, seeks greater involvement of its members in its management, besides encouraging and strengthening the relationships of proximity and solidarity between those who produce and those who consume, developing another look for agriculture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Community supported agriculture (CSA) has grown in recent years as a marketing and distribution option for farmers. CSA involves 'shareholders' subscribing to a regular share of a farm's harvest. The experiential structure of CSA provides opportunities for farmers to develop relationships with consumers and strengthen their local food systems (LFSs). By bringing consumer perspectives into view, LFS development personnel and other stakeholders may better understand where their residents place value within their unique systems. In this manuscript, we focus on the place of CSA in LFSs. Using survey responses from 13 communities in the Southeastern United States, we ask how different aspects of LFSs are perceptually linked to CSA by consumers. From these responses, residents seem to be more aware of CSA if they have knowledge about other direct markets -- such as farmers markets or specialty retail stores -- or are exposed to local food campaigns and branding efforts. Similarly, residents more positively evaluate CSA performance if they have similar evaluations of direct markets and experience with on-farm activities. These patterns differ depending on the location of the respondent. We see a role for place-based LFS promotion activities and consumer education programmes in most communities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A convivial economy as envisioned in the convivialist manifestos overcomes the growth imperative and restricts the role of profit-maximisation. It rests on the vision of a diversified and mixed economy that comprises for-profit businesses, public entities and civil society organizations. This contribution explores community-supported agriculture (CSA) initiatives and their limits as part of such a convivial economy. CSA aims to decommodify and deglobalize food systems and to establish non-hierarchical relations. The contribution analyses (i) to what extend gift-relations replace market relations, (ii) how modes of cooperation in networks maintain conviviality, and (iii) how organizational structures that embrace horizontality and sociocracy shall enable meaningful participation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

After more than three decades, the alternative food movement has developed multiple strategies, most of which are still struggling. This essay surveys the literature on six key alternative food movement (AFM) strategies, assessing their strengths and weaknesses before describing a novel strategy, the microfarm system, which is being implemented in north central Ohio. It argues that key omissions from most AFM scholarship and practices include sustained attention to training and supporting successful farmers, concerted efforts to help facilitate needed social networks or communities of practices around alternative food developments, and forwarding a set of ambitions that do not appreciate the scale of existing food systems nor the limits of alternative food systems' impact. It offers the microfarm system as an emerging approach to address these omissions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Community-supported agriculture (CSA) has the potential to reduce food loss and waste (FLW) due to a direct connection between consumers and producers, lower standards regarding product aesthetics and consumer-related values. Accordingly, CSA could compensate for possible yield gaps compared to conventional agriculture. Here, FLW and yields were assessed for one year in four CSA initiatives in the area of Leipzig, Germany, and compared to reference data. The results show that FLW during production, distribution and consumption were on average 22–70% lower compared to reference data. On average, due to lower FLW, the CSA initiatives could compensate for yield gaps of 32%, which reflects yield gaps typically observed between organic and conventional agriculture. Actual yield gaps in CSA might be lower, as agroecological approaches to increase productivity are widely adopted. The co-evaluation of the results with CSA gardeners showed that FLW could be further reduced in all stages. Reducing FLW was mentioned as an important sustainability goal of the investigated CSA initiatives, yet they also indicated a focus on biodiversity, education, food quality or the reduction of fossil fuels. This pilot study indicates that CSA can contribute to the transition towards sustainable and resilient food systems.