Collaborative Community Supported Agriculture:

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• Collaborative Community Supported Agriculture
• Supporting Women and Communities
• National Extension Women in Agriculture
  Conference
• April 6-7, 2006
• Corry Bregendahl
• North Central Regional Center for Rural
  Development
• corry_at_iastate.edu

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Overview

• 2005 collaborative CSA study in Iowa
• What is collaborative CSA?
• CSA and alternative agriculture
• Principles of alternative agriculture
• Community Capitals Framework
• Benefits of participation for women producers
• Womens contributions
• Implications for Extension

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About the Study

• Unique contributions and community benefits of
  multi-producer, for-profit CSA
• Funded by Leopold Center for Sustainable
  Agriculture
• In partnership with Iowa Network for Community
  Agriculture
• Surveyed/interviewed current and former
  coordinators, producers, and members of three
  cCSAs in Iowa

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What Is Collaborative CSA?

• Almost all for-profit CSA is collaborative
• Our research focus
• For-profit CSA in which multiple producers
  collaborate to provide food/fiber products for
  CSA in which no single producer has sole
  responsibility

Collaboration
Independence
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Principles ofAlternative Agriculture

• Independence
• Self sufficiency
• Decentralization
• Dispersed control of land, resources, capital
• Community
• Increased cooperation, small communities
  essential
• Harmony with nature
• Humans subject to nature, imitation of natural
  ecosystems
• Source Beus and Dunlap, 1990 and Chiappe and
  Flora, 1998

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Principles ofAlternative Agriculture

• Diversity
• Integration of crops and livestock, polyculture
• Restraint
• Simpler lifestyles, nonmaterialism
• Quality of life
• Decreased labor time, more time with family
• Spirituality/religiosity
• Living spiritual values, respect for earth and
  life
• Source Beus and Dunlap, 1990 and Chiappe and
  Flora, 1998

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Measurement

• Considering alternative agriculture in terms of
  seven community capitals
• Natural capital
• Cultural capital
• Human capital
• Social capital
• Political capital
• Financial capital
• Built capital

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Community Capitals Framework
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Results

• Using the Community Capitals Framework
• Benefits women producers receive as a result of
  participation
• Differences between women and men producers
• Community benefits

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ResultsProducer Demographics

• 26 producers responded
• 70 response rate

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ResultsCapital Benefit Rankings
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Results Social Capital

• 6-item scale
• Measures extent to which producers develop
  relationships, networks, and trust with other
  producers, CSA members, and community
• Reliability coefficient .9224
• Ranked first among women

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Results Social Capital

• Scale overall
• Women producers more likely (p lt .10) than men to
  agree they receive social capital benefits
• Individual items
• Women more likely than men to
• Make professional connections with other
  producers (p lt .10)
• Make personal connections with other producers
  (p lt .10)
• Build trust with CSA members (p lt .05)
• Establish broader network of relationships in
  community (p lt .10)
• Strengthen relationships in the community (p lt
  .10)

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Results Cultural Capital

• 7-item scale
• Measures shared identity to the land, farming,
  food, and others who have similar beliefs,
  values, and philosophies
• Reliability coefficient .8430
• Ranked second among women

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Results Cultural Capital

• Scale overall
• Women more likely than men (p lt .05) to agree
  they receive cultural capital benefits
• Individual items
• Women more likely than men to
• Help CSA members connect with each other/other
  community members through CSA events (p lt .05)
• Maintain shared identity with community members
  through local/organic farm products (p lt .10)
• Stay connected to the land (p lt .10)

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Results Natural Capital

• 8-item scale
• Measures extent to which producers report their
  activities positively impact soil health,
  biodiversity, water quality, wildlife habitat,
  and landscape appearance
• Unable to measure direct environmental impact
• Reliability coefficient .9204
• Ranked third among women

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Results Natural Capital

• Scale overall
• No difference between men and women
• Individual items
• No differences between men and women

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Results Human Capital

• 11-item scale
• Measures time-saving aspects of collaborative
  CSA, educational and knowledge-generating
  aspects, self-actualization, and human health
  contributions
• Reliability coefficient .8430
• Ranked fourth among women

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Results Human Capital

• Scale overall
• No difference between men and women
• Individual items
• Women more likely than men to
• Share knowledge of environmentally friendly
  farming/animal husbandry techniques with other
  producers and groups (p lt .10)
• Access knowledge of more experienced producers
  (p lt .05)

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Results Human Capital

• Community benefits
• Educating, training, building confidence of women
• 36 of women employed in ag-related position paid
  by off-farm source since cCSA
• 40 credit cCSA for employment
• 73 of women say cCSA participation influenced
  business decisions by
• Learning more about consumers
• Learning more about themselves
• Learning more about the business of production

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Results Political Capital

• 6-item scale
• Measuring links to power, influence, voice, and
  public resources often through elected officials
• Reliability coefficient .9052
• Ranked fifth among women

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Results Political Capital

• Scale overall
• No differences between women and men
• Individual items
• No differences between women and men

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ResultsFinancial/Built Capital

• 9-item scale
• Extent to which producers report they were not
  only able to increase their assets and financial
  wealth, but also diversify and stabilize income
• Reliability coefficient .8478
• Ranked sixth/last among women

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ResultsFinancial/Built Capital

• Scale overall
• No difference between women and men
• Individual items
• Women producers more likely than men to
• Access new markets (p lt .05)

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ResultsFinancial/Built Capital

• Community benefits
• cCSA as business incubator for women
• 44 of women producers say cCSA participation
  helped them start new or expand new farm-related
  enterprises
• Offer new products such as bread, eggs and beef
• Start single proprietor owned CSA
• Cheese making operation
• Farmhouse dinners
• Buying club

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Womens Contributions

• Understanding of relationship marketing (human
  capital)
• Emphasizing customer retention, not constantly
  attracting new ones
• Retaining customers by creating channels for
  communication, interaction, and information
• Adding social, cultural, emotional, political,
  financial value to products
• Committing long-term to consumers

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Womens Contributions

• Innovations in relationship marketing (human and
  social capital)
• Creative producer-to-producer relationships
• Creative relationships with members
• Rejecting idea that consumers are product
  recipients
• Getting consumers to buy into business
• Consumers identify with producer/production
  methods
• Consumers do word-of-mouth marketing
• Consumers provide capital, labor
• Consumers become co-producers, co-creators
• Creative relationships with communities

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Implicationsfor Extension

• Educators can support women and communities by
• Understanding women producers values
• Social connections
• Culture
• Community
• Quality of life
• Validating and legitimizing those values

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Implicationsfor Extension

• Educators can support women and communities by
• Understanding womens strengths
• Community ties
• Long-term commitment
• Relationship marketing
• Willingness, creativity, and flexibility to
  engage in unconventional business relationships

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Implications for Extension

• Educators can support women and communities by
• Facilitating networks
• Provide professional and personal support
• Minimize and share risk
• Access production and business knowledge
• Helping women recognize and invest their
  strengths into business, community

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• For surveys and updates on the Web, visit us at
• http//www.ncrcrd.iastate.edu/projects/csa/index.h
  tml