What's a CSA?
Community Supported Agriculture was developed as a sustainable way for groups of individuals to purchase food directly from local farms. This model enables consumers to share the risks and rewards associated with farm production in order to create a sustainable local farm economy. In New York City, CSAs are neighborhood-based organizations that are run by volunteers who are committed to helping people in their community eat healthy seasonal foods. Learn more about CSAs here.
Research
Market Research
We attended the 2010 Just Foods CSA conference in New York and interviewed over 20 CSA organizers to understand the challenges these organizations face. This fieldwork was instrumental in driving our design. Here are the main insights that we uncovered:
- Successful CSAs are run collaboratively. These communities have five or more core group members (who transition often), and an engaged member roster.
- CSA organizers are time-strapped and need help running their CSAs.
- CSAs provide more than just food. They also support their communities by delivering education and connecting like-minded neighbors.
From our research it was clear that the solution was to create an online platform that provides community management tools to reduce the administrative burden for organizers. We then decided to add on a social network element to support connections and collaborations between all CSA members.
