The CSA network UK was launched in December 2013. Their roots date back to a five year project run by the Soil Association through the Big Lottery funded Making Local Food Work programme. The project aimed to promote CSA as a way of reconnecting people with where their food comes from. Inspired by examples from the USA, France and Japan the project saw the number of CSA farms in England grow from a handful to around 80 with an estimated 150 start-ups, in just five years.
At the end of the project, CSA farm members decided that this great work should continue, in the form of an independent organisation for community supported agriculture in the UK.
The last time CSA research was undertaken was 2011. There were 80 trading then and about 80 more in development. This was at the end of an intensive period of support for CSAs which has since stopped. It is likely that the number of CSA has grown since 2011 but this is not researched. The definition of CSA in the UK is broad and the models are diverse. Some are farmer led others are community led.
