Socio-economic and ecological transition in community supported agriculture: from the 'transitional' to the 'ideal' CSA

Abstract : This paper focuses on the transitional features of community supported agriculture (CSA). Its key contribution is to show the transformational potential of CSA for agricultural system change. The starting point of this research is the "ideal" CSA model. Instead of a monolithic CSA model, in practice we find a patchwork of experiences that we group together under the "transitional" CSA name. We develop a framework that highlights the "transitional" CSA model and compares it with both the conventional and the "ideal" CSA. The coevolutionary approach helps us to understand how CSAs adapt to their context. We use many narratives from the broad literature on CSAs.