CSA and Hybrid Models: The advantages and disadvantages of different marketing - Logan Strenchock

Logan Strenchock is the Environmental and Sustainability Officer at Central European University (Budapest, Hungary), a garden team member at Zsámboki Biokert, a four-hectare organic fruit and vegetable farm in Hungary and a co-founder of Cargonomia, a community cargobike centre and local food distribution point in Budapest. He enjoys getting his hands dirty in mixing research and practice in degrowth-inspired experimentation with a diverse team of collaborators living in Hungary.

"CSA and Hybrid Models: The advantages and disadvantages of different marketing mechanisms in short food supply chains"

Sustainable agriculture, direct food marketing and related movements have been widely examined in technical and socio-anthropological literature but the real-life perspectives of on-farm decision-making practices – addressing how farmers balance production methods in relation to environmental and social commitments, why human-scale farming provides both unique opportunities and specific challenges, and the challenges associated in maintaining small but dynamic ‘gardening families’ are often overlooked or misinterpreted. Farm managers, especially those promoting agroecology, organic farming and socially responsible practices face much difficulty in finding working financial models which support production activities and offer a livelihood for employees. Farmers face pressure to survive within an exploitative food retail environment dominated by multinational corporations, while also striving to create new alternatives to industrial food systems through their own direct marketing pursuits. This presentation will focus on explaining the benefits and challenges associated with various direct food marketing mechanisms (including CSA, weekly food box schemes, direct producer markets, hybrid models and more) for farmers producing fruits and vegetables at small scale. Direct marketing opportunities will be analyzed through the lens of practical experiences gained within Central Europe, specifically direct marketing of local organic vegetables and fruits in Hungary, with hope that advice shared will assist new organic farmers in deciding on the most appropriate type of marketing mechanism for their own venture.

Presentation from the conference “Launching Community-Supported Agriculture in Ukraine” 27.02.2021: https://visegrad.permakultura.sk/csa/

Видео CSA and Hybrid Models: The advantages and disadvantages of different marketing - Logan Strenchock канала Permaculture for Peace / Пермакультура для Миру