Factors Affecting Current and Future CSA Participation
1
Department of Agricultural Sciences, Clemson University, Clemson, SC 29634, USA
2
Food and Resource Economics Department, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611, USA
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Academic Editor: John P. A. Lamers
Sustainability 2017, 9(3), 478; https://doi.org/10.3390/su9030478
Received: 30 January 2017
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Revised: 4 March 2017
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Accepted: 17 March 2017
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Published: 22 March 2017
Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) is one of the widely used direct marketing strategies for small- and midsized farmers. CSA programs are an important option for sustainable production and consumption. It helps growers generate income (improve financial security) and consumers obtain fresh local foods. Sustaining and growing CSA participation is critical in order to continue enjoying these benefits. We used a national online survey in conjunction with discrete choice models to investigate the impact of demographic characteristics, lifestyle preferences, and different information outlets on the probability that a consumer is or will become a CSA member. The results indicate that the factors affecting current and future CSA participation differ substantially. While none of the demographic characteristics has a significant impact on current CSA participation, some of them significantly affect the probability that a consumer will become a CSA member in the future. Lifestyle preferences have a significant impact on current and future CSA participation. Although none of the information outlets examined affect current CSA participation, word-of-mouth and online sources significantly influence the probability that a consumer will join a CSA program in the future. These findings may have important implications for policy makers’ and CSA farm managers’ efforts to sustain future CSA development.
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MDPI and ACS Style
Vassalos, M.; Gao, Z.; Zhang, L. Factors Affecting Current and Future CSA Participation. Sustainability 2017, 9, 478. https://doi.org/10.3390/su9030478
AMA Style
Vassalos M, Gao Z, Zhang L. Factors Affecting Current and Future CSA Participation. Sustainability. 2017; 9(3):478. https://doi.org/10.3390/su9030478
Chicago/Turabian StyleVassalos, Michael, Zhifeng Gao, and Lisha Zhang. 2017. "Factors Affecting Current and Future CSA Participation" Sustainability 9, no. 3: 478. https://doi.org/10.3390/su9030478
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