Alternative food networks Alternative food networks The members of the networks also help with the distribution of food. This includes packing the food boxes as well as organizing the pick-up places. In interviews, the project’s research team questioned both the producer and the consumer side of selected networks in the Munich, Berlin and Hamburg metropolitan regions. Access to healthy and fresh food, short supply chains, the experience of community or the conscious support of small-scale agriculture were good reasons for the consumers surveyed to buy at least some of their food directly from the farm rather than in the supermarket. “The question of where food comes from and how it is produced is becoming more and more important for many people”, explains Felix Zoll. This is why many consumers are interested in concepts that allow them to know exactly where their food comes from. Personal contact with farmers is crucial in this respect and creates trust. This contact is particularly close in the case of “CSA”, which operates according to the principles of a cooperative organization and is regarded as the “flagship” of the movement. The question of where food comes from and how it is produced is becoming more and more important for many people. FELIX ZOLL This model gives the farm planning security – thanks to the fixed contribution payments, the farmer knows at the beginning of the year exactly how high his income will be, regardless of the size of the harvest and yield losses due to drought or disease. The purchase of the produce is guaranteed – provided that enough members support the farm with their contributions. The researchers emphasize that this is an enormous opportunity, especially for small farms and market gardens that are struggling hard to survive in the globalized markets. 24 25
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