In Community Supported Agriculture, or CSA, an individual or family subscribes to a local farm for the season, paying a flat rate for a share of what it produces, and enjoying fresh, seasonal food in return. By bringing farmers and eaters into direct, supportive relationships, CSAs offer an alternative to the global, industrial food system depicted in the documentary Food Inc. That system is a highly complex one in which the growing, processing, packaging and distribution of food is dominated by a handful of corporations and relies heavily on fossil fuel consumption. Given this complexity, it can be difficult for consumers to figure out where foods or ingredients have come from or how they were produced.

CSAs are part of a larger movement aimed at re-localizing and simplifying food production, says Suzanne DeMuth in Community Supported Agriculture (CSA): An Annotated Bibliography and Resource Guide. They offer consumers healthy food and better understanding of how their food is grown, while farmers benefit from knowing exactly how much they must produce for the season and being paid for it in advance. CSAs also help promote family farms and the local economy, produce food more sustainably, and nurture a sense of community.

Inspired by community farm initiatives in Europe, the first two North American CSAs were started in the US in 1986. While it’s hard to nail down official numbers, as of 2004, there were about 1,700 CSAs across the U.S. and Canada, says Steve McFadden in “The History of Community-Supported Agriculture, Part II: CSA's World of Possibilities."