A CSA, short for Community Supported Agriculture, is a system that “provides city residents with the opportunity to have direct access to high quality, fresh produce grown by local regional farmers”. Not only does this allow for a better expansion of locally fresh produce being sold or eaten in a city setting but it also allows for a personal connection to how our food is produced, where it comes from, and the quality of the food we have access to.
Community Supported Agriculture is very important to the alternative food system. Local affiliates provide the community with fresh, sustainable food that allows for there to be a link between sustainable food control and decreasing the distance between agri-food production and urban customers. Customer involvement is a defining factor when it comes to CSA’s. The consumer-producer relationship is one that aids in education, internal/external involvement and mutual understanding of a community’s needs which helps to establish alliances that create this framework.