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1998•Review of Agricultural EconomicsRequires access

Consumer Benefits from Community Supported Agriculture Membership

Jack P. Cooley, Daniel A. Lass

Open publisher page 142 citations

Abstract

Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) is a recent institution in agriculture. In CSA, both the farmer and consumer share the risks and the bounty of farm production. This study focuses on consumer benefits from CSA membership, especially cost savings. To estimate consumer cost savings, quantities of produce in weekly shares for three CSA farms in Massachusetts were measured and retail values calculated. Cost savings were calculated as the differences between share prices and retail values for three CSA operations. Benefits ranged from 60% to 150% of share prices for the CSA farms studied, based on retail prices for organic produce.

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What this paper is about

Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) is a recent institution in agriculture. In CSA, both the farmer and consumer share the risks and the bounty of farm production. This study focuses on consumer benefits from CSA membership, especially cost savings. To estimate consumer cost savings, quantities of produce in weekly shares for three CSA farms in Massachusetts were measured and retail values calculated. Cost savings were calculated as the differences between share prices and retail values for three CSA operations. Benefits ranged from 60% to 150% of share prices for the CSA farms studied, based on retail prices for organic produce.

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OpenAlex reports 142 citations for this work. Citation counts describe recorded attention and do not establish research quality.

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Available abstract

Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) is a recent institution in agriculture. In CSA, both the farmer and consumer share the risks and the bounty of farm production. This study focuses on consumer benefits from CSA membership, especially cost savings. To estimate consumer cost savings, quantities of produce in weekly shares for three CSA farms in Massachusetts were measured and retail values calculated. Cost savings were calculated as the differences between share prices and retail values for three CSA operations. Benefits ranged from 60% to 150% of share prices for the CSA farms studied, based on retail prices for organic produce.

Key concepts: Agriculture, Business, Agricultural economics, Marketing, Economics, Natural resource economics, Geography, Archaeology

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