Overcoming barriers towards sustainable consumption and production (SCP) A comparative study on Dutch community supported agriculture (CSA)

Abstract

This research uses a qualitative method in order to analyse under which conditions Dutch community supported agricultureisabletoovercomebarrierstosustainableproductionandconsumption.Fivebarriers to sustainable consumption and production are identified, respectively: financial, institutional, credibility, awareness and availability. CSA members seem to be overcoming certain barriers to sustainabilityandare therefore promising as a sustainablealternativetotheunsustainableconventionalagriculturalsystem.CSA, for example, distributes the financial ownership of the farm and therefore reduces the individual financial risk of the farmer. By having a transparent administration and supply chain CSAs ensure credibility from other parties which helps in overcoming barriers to SCP. To conduct the research, 30 interviews were conducted with 24 consumers and 6 producers at six different CSAs. The research indicates that the subscription CSAs have the least potential inovercomingbarrierstoSCP.Althoughtheconsumerslinkedto the subscription CSAs seemed to be overcoming many barriers to sustainable consumption, thisisdeclared because the consumers interviewed were members of the CSA for many years, which seemed to be an indication of conscious and sustainable consumption. The shareholder CSA has the most potential of overcoming financial and regulatory barriers because itisindependentofexternalmarketsandthefinances are enabled by its shareholders. For gaining credibility the self-harvest CSAs seem themostpromisingdue to high interaction between producer and consumer. This creates a close bond between the group and the farm and creates a culture of responsible actions of both the consumers and the producers. Therefore the most promising typology would be a cooperative self-harvest garden, which enables producers and consumers to overcome the most barriers to SCP.