高雄市旗美社區大學

Getting Farmers and Consumers Together: Community Supported Agriculture

Summary 

By Elizabeth Henderson

July 25, 2008

 For the 7^th Workshop of Community Education and Rural Development

 (Elizabeth Henderson runs Peacework Organic Farm with her partners Greg Palmer and Ammie Chickering.  Peacework is Certified Organic by NOFA-NY.  Address: 2218 Welcher Road, Newark, New York, 14513 . 315-331-9029. Elizabeth is the author of Sharing the Harvest: A Citizen’s Guide to Community Supported Agriculture (Chelsea Green, 2007)E-mail: ehendrsn@redsuspenders.com, website: www.gvocsa.org)

串起農人與消費者：社區支持型農業 
總結 
著：伊麗莎白.韓德森 
翻譯：蔡月蜜

2008年7月25號

 第七屆農村工作坊

伊麗莎白.韓德森與她的伙伴葛瑞格.波磨與艾咪.齊卡英共同經營和平工作有機農場。和平工作有機農場通過紐約東北有機農法協會之認證。地址：2218 Welcher Road, Newark, New York, 14513。電話：315-331-9029。伊麗莎白.韓德森著有共享收成：社區支持型農業的市民指導手冊（Chelsea Green出版, 2007年）。電子郵件：ehendrsn@redsuspenders.com。網址：www.gvocsa.org

In North America , as elsewhere in the world, small local farms have had a struggle to compete in retail markets with imports from larger farms and distant countries. Since World War II, millions of people have had to give up farming because they could not make a living on the land. As an antidote to this sad history, over the past 22 years in North America , farmers and consumers have been experimenting with a new form of direct marketing - community supported agriculture (CSA).  Consumers sign up with a particular farm or group of farms for an entire season, and the farm provides them with a packet of produce every week, a “share in the harvest”.  The consumers share the risk with the farmers, receiving more food in good years and less in bad years.  In 2008, there are approximately 1700 CSA farms in North America supplying food to over 250,000 households.

在北美還有世界其它地區，在地小農面對零售商從遠地大農進口糧食之競爭已經奮戰掙扎很久。自從第二次世界大戰，無數人們已經放棄農耕，因為他們無法靠土地養家活口。為了提出對這段傷心歷史的解決辦法，過去22年來，在北美，農人與消費者共同實驗出一種新的直接銷售形式：社區支持型農業。消費者與特定的某個農場或一群農場簽訂一季的合約，然後農場每星期提供消費者一批產出，此稱為「共享收成」。消費者與農人共擔風險，在好年冬收到較多的食物，在壞年冬則拿取較少。在2008年，北美大約有1700個農場供應超過250,000個家庭所需糧食。

The essence of CSA is a mutual commitment between a farm or group of farms and a group of consumers.  The farm feeds the people and, in return, the people support the farm, and share the inherent risks and potential bounty of farm production.  Farmers and consumers all over the world can realize this concept, each group in its own unique and appropriate way.

社區支持性農業的本質是一群人與一塊土地或一片區域土地間的相互承諾。農地餵養人們，而人們支持農地作為回報，並共同承擔內在的風險與享有潛在的產品報酬。世界各地的農人與消費者有能力實現這個概念，每個群體以他們獨特合適的方式完成。

I have interviewed literally hundreds of CSA farmers and members in writing the book Sharing the Harvest: A Guide to Community Supported Agriculture (published by Chelsea Green, 2007).  In this talk, I will present a brief history of this form of marketing in Japan , the United States and recent developments in other countries as well. Then I will tell the story of my own 20 years of experience with CSA, illustrated with photos of Peacework Farm, where I live and work.  Next, I will present how to start a CSA, including finding and involving members, pricing, deciding what to grow and what to put in the shares, handling and distributing the harvest, and way to help retain members.  Finally, I will share my reflections about how CSA can contribute to strenghthening local food systems and building community.  I hope that some of what I way will be useful to farmers in Taiwan and I look forward to discussing with you how you may be able to adapt CSA to your culture.

 在我撰寫共享收成：社區支持型農業的市民指導手冊（2007年由Chelsea Green出版）時，我已經確實地面訪過數百個社區支持型農人與會員。在這場談話中，我將報告這類行銷模式在日本、美國與其它國家的簡短歷史。接著我將談談有關我參與社區支持型農業的20年經驗，並以和平工作農場（Peacework Farm）照片輔助說明，這個農場也是我目前工作與居住處。之後我想報告如何著手成立一個社區支持型農業農場，包括招募吸納會員、定價、決定要種什麼還有股份的內容、處理與配送收成，以及如何留住會員。最後，我將分享一些關於社區支持型農業如何能強化在地糧食體系建立社區的心得。我希望這次其中部分的談話將對於台灣農民有所用處，我也期待與你們討論你們將如何將社區支持型農業運用在你們的文化。