IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/ags/jlofdr/209984.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

CSAs and the Battle for the Local Food Dollar

Author

Listed:
  • Woods, Timothy A.
  • Tropp, Debra

Abstract

The Community Supported Agriculture marketing model has evolved from its early roots, adapting to both increases in local food demand and consumer market engagement as well as to expanded competition for the local food dollar from a variety of other direct-to-consumer and intermediated sources. This paper explores the strategic positioning of CSAs in the changing food market and draws on descriptive summaries of observations from a recent survey of CSA managers to document specific trends in adaptations to the CSA business model. An application of the transaction versus alliance marketing framework is applied to local food distribution alternatives and opportunities for differentiation. CSA managers generally are aware of alternative channels for local food but primarily point to other CSAs and farm markets as the closest competition.

Suggested Citation

  • Woods, Timothy A. & Tropp, Debra, 2015. "CSAs and the Battle for the Local Food Dollar," Journal of Food Distribution Research, Food Distribution Research Society, vol. 46(2), pages 1-13, July.
  • Handle: RePEc:ags:jlofdr:209984
    DOI: 10.22004/ag.econ.209984
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://ageconsearch.umn.edu/record/209984/files/_2_%20113.pdf
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.22004/ag.econ.209984?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Gumirakiza, Jean Dominique & Curtis, Kynda R. & Bosworth, Ryan C., 2014. "Who Attends Farmers’ Markets and Why? Understanding Consumers and their Motivations," International Food and Agribusiness Management Review, International Food and Agribusiness Management Association, vol. 17(2), pages 1-18, May.
    2. Farrell, Joseph & Saloner, Garth, 1986. "Installed Base and Compatibility: Innovation, Product Preannouncements, and Predation," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 76(5), pages 940-955, December.
    3. Zepeda, Lydia & Li, Jinghan, 2006. "Who Buys Local Food?," Journal of Food Distribution Research, Food Distribution Research Society, vol. 37(3), pages 1-11, November.
    4. Nicholas Economides, 1997. "The Economics of Networks," Brazilian Electronic Journal of Economics, Department of Economics, Universidade Federal de Pernambuco, vol. 1(0), December.
    5. Diamond, Adam & Barham, James, 2012. "Moving Food Along the Value Chain: Innovations in Regional Food Distribution," Research Reports 145618, United States Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Marketing Service, Transportation and Marketing Program.
    6. S. J. Liebowitz & Stephen E. Margolis, 1994. "Network Externality: An Uncommon Tragedy," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 8(2), pages 133-150, Spring.
    7. Bond, Jennifer Keeling & Thilmany, Dawn & Bond, Craig, 2009. "What Influences Consumer Choice of Fresh Produce Purchase Location?," Journal of Agricultural and Applied Economics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 41(1), pages 61-74, April.
    8. Katz, Michael L & Shapiro, Carl, 1986. "Technology Adoption in the Presence of Network Externalities," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 94(4), pages 822-841, August.
    9. Low, Sarah A. & Adalja, Aaron & Beaulieu, Elizabeth & Key, Nigel & Martinez, Stephen & Melton, Alex & Perez, Agnes & Ralston, Katherine & Stewart, Hayden & Suttles, Shellye & Vogel, Stephen & Jablonsk, 2015. "Trends in U.S. Local and Regional Food Systems: Report to Congress," Administrative Publications 292107, United States Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Jairus J. Rossi & Timothy A. Woods & James E. Allen, 2017. "Impacts of a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) Voucher Program on Food Lifestyle Behaviors: Evidence from an Employer-Sponsored Pilot Program," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(9), pages 1-21, August.
    2. Jairus Rossi & James E. Allen & Timothy A. Woods & Alison F. Davis, 2017. "CSA shareholder food lifestyle behaviors: a comparison across consumer groups," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 34(4), pages 855-869, December.
    3. Wellner, Marie & Theuvsen, Ludwig, 2016. "Community Supported Agriculture Als Neuer Impuls Für Die Regionalvermarktung? Stand Der Forschung Und Abgrenzung Von Anderen Alternativen Lebensmittelnetzwerken," 56th Annual Conference, Bonn, Germany, September 28-30, 2016 244757, German Association of Agricultural Economists (GEWISOLA).
    4. Emily H. Morgan & Michelle M. Severs & Karla L. Hanson & Jared McGuirt & Florence Becot & Weiwei Wang & Jane Kolodinsky & Marilyn Sitaker & Stephanie B. Jilcott Pitts & Alice Ammerman & Rebecca A. Seg, 2018. "Gaining and Maintaining a Competitive Edge: Evidence from CSA Members and Farmers on Local Food Marketing Strategies," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(7), pages 1-21, June.
    5. Diane Smith & Weiwei Wang & Lisa Chase & Hans Estrin & Julia Van Soelen Kim, 2019. "Perspectives from the Field: Adaptions in CSA Models in Response to Changing Times in the U.S," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(11), pages 1-15, June.
    6. Marie Diekmann & Ludwig Theuvsen, 2019. "Value structures determining community supported agriculture: insights from Germany," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 36(4), pages 733-746, December.
    7. Gumirakiza, Dominique & King, Stephen A. & Kingery, Thomas, "undated". "Clustering Online Shoppers and Explaining their Preferences for Ways to Receive Marketing Information about Local/Regional Fresh Produce," 2017 Annual Meeting, July 30-August 1, Chicago, Illinois 259947, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    8. Patrick Baur, 2020. "When farmers are pulled in too many directions: comparing institutional drivers of food safety and environmental sustainability in California agriculture," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 37(4), pages 1175-1194, December.
    9. Rossi, Jairus & Woods, Tim, 2020. "Understanding Shareholder Satisfaction and Retention in CSA Incentive Programs," Journal of Food Distribution Research, Food Distribution Research Society, vol. 51(3), November.
    10. Michael Vassalos & Zhifeng Gao & Lisha Zhang, 2017. "Factors Affecting Current and Future CSA Participation," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(3), pages 1-16, March.
    11. Wellner, Marie & Theuvsen, Ludwig, 2018. "Community Supported Agriculture – Determinanten Der Teilnah-Mebereitschaft Deutscher Landwirte," 58th Annual Conference, Kiel, Germany, September 12-14, 2018 276223, German Association of Agricultural Economists (GEWISOLA).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Navarro, Noemí, 2012. "Price and quality decisions under network effects," Journal of Mathematical Economics, Elsevier, vol. 48(5), pages 263-270.
    2. Church Jeffrey & Gandal Neil & Krause David, 2008. "Indirect Network Effects and Adoption Externalities," Review of Network Economics, De Gruyter, vol. 7(3), pages 1-22, September.
    3. Marechal, Kevin, 2007. "The economics of climate change and the change of climate in economics," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 35(10), pages 5181-5194, October.
    4. Daniel Birke, 2009. "The Economics Of Networks: A Survey Of The Empirical Literature," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 23(4), pages 762-793, September.
    5. Ingo Hofacker, 2000. "Unternehmensnetzwerke zur Durchsetzung eines Standards," Schmalenbach Journal of Business Research, Springer, vol. 52(7), pages 643-660, November.
    6. Michael Vassalos & Zhifeng Gao & Lisha Zhang, 2017. "Factors Affecting Current and Future CSA Participation," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(3), pages 1-16, March.
    7. Slowak, André P., 2009. "Market fields structure & dynamics in industrial automation," FZID Discussion Papers 02-2009, University of Hohenheim, Center for Research on Innovation and Services (FZID).
    8. Netsanet Haile & Jörn Altmann, 2016. "Structural analysis of value creation in software service platforms," Electronic Markets, Springer;IIM University of St. Gallen, vol. 26(2), pages 129-142, May.
    9. Howell, Bronwyn, 2006. "Unveiling 'Invisible Hands': Two-Sided Platforms in Health Care Markets," Working Paper Series 3841, Victoria University of Wellington, The New Zealand Institute for the Study of Competition and Regulation.
    10. Norbäck, Pehr-Johan & Persson, Lars & Tå̊g, Joacim, 2014. "Acquisitions, entry, and innovation in oligopolistic network industries," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 37(C), pages 1-12.
    11. repec:hal:spmain:info:hdl:2441/962 is not listed on IDEAS
    12. Klaus CONRAD, 2005. "Price Competition and Product Differentiation when Goods have Network Effects," Industrial Organization 0502002, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    13. Kerstan, Sven & Kretschmer, Tobias & Muehlfeld, Katrin, 2012. "The dynamics of pre-market standardization," Information Economics and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 24(2), pages 105-119.
    14. Krafft, Jackie & Salies, Evens, 2008. "The diffusion of ADSL and costs of switching Internet providers in the broadband industry: Evidence from the French case," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 37(4), pages 706-719, May.
    15. Keshab Bhattarai & John Whalley, 2006. "The Division and Size of Gains from Liberalization in Service Networks," Review of International Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 14(3), pages 348-361, August.
    16. Jean-Jacques Herings, P. & Peeters, Ronald & Yang, Michael S., 2010. "Competition against peer-to-peer networks," Information Economics and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 22(4), pages 315-331, December.
    17. Jackie Krafft & Evens Salies, 2006. "The cost of switching Internet providers in the French broadband industry, or why ADSL has diffused faster than other innovative technologies," SciencePo Working papers Main hal-00972799, HAL.
    18. Robert J. Kauffman & James McAndrews & Yu-Ming Wang, 2000. "Opening the “Black Box” of Network Externalities in Network Adoption," Information Systems Research, INFORMS, vol. 11(1), pages 61-82, March.
    19. Laura Baraldi, 2004. "Esternalita' Di Rete: Una Rassegna," Working Papers 12_2004, D.E.S. (Department of Economic Studies), University of Naples "Parthenope", Italy.
    20. Banerji, A. & Dutta, Bhaskar, 2009. "Local network externalities and market segmentation," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 27(5), pages 605-614, September.
    21. Jörn H. Block & Philipp Köllinger, 2007. "Peer Influence in Network Markets: An Empirical Investigation," Schmalenbach Business Review (sbr), LMU Munich School of Management, vol. 59(4), pages 364-386, October.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:ags:jlofdr:209984. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: AgEcon Search (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/fdrssea.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.