CSA member recruitment and retention
With a team in Wisconsin, we surveyed current and former community supported agriculture (CSA) members. To the best of our knowledge, our survey was the largest CSA member survey conducted to date.
Our intention was to make recommendations that could improve CSA member recruitment and retention. We compared responses from current and former CSA members, and furthermore compared survey responses among current CSA members that had different plans for their CSA membership in the future: those who planned to continue purchasing a CSA share from their current farm (Stayers), those who planned to switch to purchasing a CSA share from a different farm (Switchers), or those who planned to quit CSA altogether (Stoppers).
My collaborators
Dr. Bret Shaw
Claire Strader
Carrie Sedlak
Erika Jones
FairShare CSA Coalition
Research highlights
Messages about CSA that focus on fresh and healthy food are probably going to be the most universally appealing. In fact, most people who took our survey reported that because of CSA, they ate healthier! That being said, community matters when it comes to retention — CSA members with a stronger sense of community for their CSA were more likely to stick with their current CSA farm.
We found that CSA members felt that because of their CSA share, they ate healthier. Many also reported that buying a CSA share made them feel like they were making a positive impact on their community, and that they felt more connected to a local farm.
We also found that younger CSA members reported feeling less updated about their CSA farms. Switchers felt that way as well, suggesting that more frequent communication might have the double benefit of improving retention and making younger members feel more included. Connecting with members on social media may be one way to accomplish this.
Food waste was a primary reasons for people to quit their CSA share. Promoting options to make the quantity of food in a CSA more management, like half shares or biweekly shares, could be an important way to help consumers reduce their waste and stick with CSA.