CSA stands for community shared agriculture and refers to an association of farmers and consumers. We want to shape the production of our food together.
Solidary prices – shared responsibility
The costs of agricultural production are borne by the members of the CSA through monthly contributions that are set at the beginning of the season. In return, the entire harvest goes to the Solawi members throughout the year – every week they receive their fresh portion of vegetables and/or delicious goat’s cheese. By guaranteeing the purchase of the products, we as farmers can free ourselves to some extent from the pressures of the market. Fluctuating prices that have nothing to do with the reality of farming do not immediately threaten our existence. Instead, the focus is on stable, long-term financing of agricultural production.
At the same time, we want to strengthen and rebuild the connection between consumers and farmers. For many people, there is no longer a direct connection to their food and the agriculture behind it – we would like to bring this a little closer to you again. With regular voluntary field work throughout the year, you can experience first-hand where and how your food grows. We also meet once a year in December for a meeting where we present our plans for the coming year and talk to each other. This way, you as consumers can directly help shape how you want agriculture and nutrition, nature conservation and diversity to be.
The aim is not only to appeal to people who can already afford organic food without any problems – through a solidarity bidding round at the beginning of each season, we want to enable people with a wide range of incomes to have a good supply of vegetables. Based on a guide value that we calculate, you can set your monthly contributions yourself – depending on your financial situation. We want to feed many people and take responsibility for our nutrition together with you. We want to give food back its true value and shape production according to our shared beliefs. And as farmers, we want to be able to make a good and fair living from it. That’s why we founded Solawi Lawine at the beginning of 2020.
We currently deliver around 250 people in the region and look forward to growing with you!
Of course, we didn’t invent the concept of solidarity farming. There are many small farmers around the world who use similar marketing methods. In Germany, there are now around 500 Solawis that produce vegetables, grains and animal products. The Solidarity Farming Network is working on networking and developing the Solawis in Germany.