The (un)making of “CSA people”: Member retention and the customization paradox in Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) in California

Abstract

Former CSA members say the share not meeting their needs is a top reason for leaving. However, CSA share customization has no effect on CSAs' retention rates. Together these findings are the customization paradox, to be investigated further. "CSA people" are those willing and able to subject themselves to CSA's requirements. CSA people can be cultivated, but structural processes are eroding the population.

Retaining Members of Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) in California for Economic Sustainability: What Characteristics Affect Retention Rates?

“…The analysis has proceeded from a very different starting place than most other analyses about CSA retention, which have focused almost entirely on former members and the reasons why they left (e.g., [12]). The literature on former members suggests that getting the product mix more in line with former members' wants would increase retention rates; however, Galt et al [11] and our analysis above demonstrate that share customization has no effect on retention rates. Galt et al ([11] p. 10) call this the "CSA customization paradox" and suggest that, while former members note that they want more choice within the share, they "actually want more choice for non-seasonal produce," which CSAs cannot address while staying true to the model of ecologically-based, local-farm provisioning.…”

“…For the second variable category, share configuration variables, only two were significant at the 5% level. Importantly, and as we reported elsewhere [11], the strategy most frequently advocated in the literature-shares are customizable in terms of items-has no effect on retention rates. For the 16% of customizable CSAs-those that allow their members to configure their share items-retention rates were no different from standard CSAs (those with a standardized box).…”

“…As noted in the previous section, in the USA there is already a movement to enhance support of inter-CSA collaborative practices; this includes an informal California CSA Network, a "national CSA Community of Practice" supported by USDA funding [39], and the efforts of service-providing firms like Small Farm Central. These and other similar movements and platforms have the potential to assist over-worked CSA farmers by providing educational materials to members and potential members (e.g., written and video recipes and information about agroecology) that help cultivate "CSA people" [11] and sharing best practices that demonstrate the social and economic benefits of deepening member-farmer relations and collaboration between CSA operations.…”

“…Determining causation here is difficult and further research is needed; it could be that CSAs with lower retention rates have attempted more frequency choices in response to low retention, rather than more frequency choices leading to members leaving. However, it might be an aspect of the "tyranny of choice" that Galt et al [11] theorize in response to too many options.…”

Co-Creating Value in Sustainable and Alternative Food Networks: The Case of Community Supported Agriculture in New Zealand

“…Other studies have focused on the environmental aspect of CSA, and how it embraces the principles of agro-ecology [71,72], or defines itself as "green business" [73,74], creating a way to pursue sustainable food practices involving both production and consumption. Finally, some research contributions have reported the motivations and psychological outcomes from CSA, such as the perception of healthy diet [75], the leisure dynamics of belonging to a group of people sharing the same values and purposes [76], and satisfaction with the activities involved [77]. This variety of perspectives and disciplines studying CSA has allowed for a multifaceted view of the phenomenon, but it has overlooked the richness of a more integrative and comprehensive look at this consumption model with the aim to consider both consumers' and producers' perspectives in parallel.…”