CSAA - Community Sustaining Art and Agroecology 

PRACTICAL INTRODUCTORY GUIDE

Author: Flávia Macêdo

Location: Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Community: Muda Outras Economias

Originally written in Portuguese, translated into English by ChatGPT

INTRODUCTION This guide was created with the aim of familiarizing community leaders, farmers, and artists with the concept of Community Sustaining Art and Agroecology (CSAA) and introducing the initial steps for forming a community with these characteristics.

The term CSAA was coined by members and partners of Muda to describe the experience of collectives that combine the production model of Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) with artistic work and agroecological farming.

CSA is a method of producing and marketing ecological food that emerged in the 1970s and is now replicated worldwide. In this model, a monthly fee turns consumers into co-producers, bringing them closer to the farmer and ensuring the allocation of food. Co-producers receive a weekly basket of seasonal foods according to production and understand that it is not a pre-purchase but rather financial and political support for ecological family farming over industrial agriculture.

In this way, farmers who can establish a group of families can form a community that sustains them. Our concept of CSAA adds to this model the importance of also supporting artistic work associated with planting and harvesting and highlights agroecology as the main reference for ecological agriculture.

Muda is a community that has its own social currency and supports CSAA through a partnership with the philanthropic institution Saúva, which provides financial support in Reais so that the baskets produced by CSAA can be made available on Muda's platform. This way, members of Muda can acquire agroecological food with the social currency and become co-producers of CSAA.

Currently, Muda has 6 partner CSAAs spread throughout Brazil, and based on the experiences of these communities, we have identified general aspects for the implementation of a CSAA, as described below.

I - FIND LAND

The main factor for creating a CSAA is having a useful area for planting. The land to be used can have different dimensions and characteristics, and these aspects will influence the production capacity of the CSAA.

There are also different ways to acquire land. In some cases, CSAA is implemented on the farmer's private property. It is also possible to lease land and include the rental costs in the total amount to be collected from co-producers. In some areas, there are public lands designated for community use that can be used, or lands owned by companies and other private properties that can be provided.

At this stage, observation and investigation are important. When observing unproductive land, it is worth investigating the property and the possibility of using it for agroecological planting.

II - ASSEMBLE THE TEAM

Despite being a community that involves the participation of various co-producers, a CSAA requires the dedication of people to perform some essential functions:

1. AGROECOLOGICAL KNOWLEDGE AND PLANTING PLANNING

Agroecology is considered a modern science rooted in the traditional practices of farmers and rural communities around the world. By combining scientific knowledge with ancestral and popular knowledge, agroecology aims for the sustainable redesign of agroecosystems, also considering the environmental, social, cultural, ethical, and political aspects of agriculture. Very popular in Brazil, this methodology uses practices and principles observed in forests, such as ecological balance, natural succession, species consortium, living soil, ground cover, etc.

For this reason, to set up a CSAA, it is necessary to have at least one person with the technical and theoretical knowledge to guide others in performing tasks and planning agroecological planting. Today, there is a lot of online content available, and interaction with different groups and associations on the subject is possible. If there is no one in your circle with this profile and interest, you can seek a consultant to advise the community continuously or invest in the training of team members.

For example, on the Muda platform, the creator of one of the partner CSAAs offers online consultancy for the creation of a CSA.

Garden of Delights - pictured, the Muda team on the first day of planting, guided by João Portella. On the right, the same beds three months after the initial planting.

2. DAILY CARE

Although agroecological planting techniques have the effect of reducing the farmer's work compared to other planting techniques, management is still welcome and necessary. In addition, many factors can influence the demand for work and care, such as soil conditions and the stage of planting and harvesting. Regarding the work itself, the logic of a collective effort should be applied whenever possible. However, in many cases, it is necessary to designate one person or promote rotation among some people so that someone can perform simple maintenance and care tasks every day, such as selective weeding and watering.

3. RESOURCE ACQUISITION AND MANAGEMENT

In addition to agroecological production, other functions of people and resource management are fundamental for the operation of a CSAA. Initially, one person should be responsible for financial planning for the costs and resources needed for planting and harvesting activities. From this, calculate how many co-producers will be necessary for the CSAA to function, and manage the receipt and accountability of these subscriptions.

After having a defined budget, it is already possible to move on to resource acquisition, community management, and content production. It is also important to pre-establish a person to be responsible for these administrative functions and stay focused on the next stage.

III - BUILD A COMMUNITY

Working in a CSAA assumes that co-producers are also co-responsible and a fundamental part of agroecological production. For this to happen, continuous education and monitoring are essential.

It is unanimous among CSAA leaders that one of the main challenges they face is ensuring that co-producers understand the logic of mutual strengthening of the CSAA, which differs from the traditional logic of consumption and demands to which we are accustomed. For the partnership between producers and co-producers to be successful, it is necessary to invest in re-educating co-producers and the entire community around the CSAA through content production and events.

Below are some activities for building and strengthening the community:

1. FIND CO-PRODUCERS

There are different possible techniques for finding members of your community. CSAA Terra Orgânica began its organization through a community composting initiative, and to find volunteers, they went door to door inviting neighbors to separate and donate their organic waste. Additionally, they organized the land with handmade signage, benches near fruit trees, and other pleasant communal spaces to attract neighbors and passersby, who eventually took ownership of the garden space as a collective area.

In the case of CSAA Confraria da Horta, its founders sent messages to all their family and friends, inviting them to join the project. As an enticing metaphor, they explained that it would be as if everyone owned a farm, but without as many costs and as much work since the initiators would act as caretakers and share the produced food. Later, they formed a partnership with a Waldorf school in the region, where they found many supporters and co-producers among the parents and members of the school community.

Currently, with the widespread use of social media, they can also be used to attract new members interested in sustainable actions and organic food.

In addition to searching for individuals and families, another important strategy is to research other communities and collectives. Muda, for example, is a community and support network that acts as a co-producer. Many other communities, companies, and sponsors are looking to promote regenerative and sustainable actions like CSAA, representing a fertile ground for partnerships.

CSAA Terra Orgânica - composting action

2. ESTABLISH COMMUNICATION CHANNELS

Regardless of the technique or set of techniques used to find your co-producers, it is essential to clarify the means of contact that will be used to keep them informed and engaged. Group messaging apps, websites, social media—all prove useful in this process. Choose the ones that best meet the needs of your members and share the contact information.

3. CREATE AND SHARE EDUCATIONAL CONTENT

Being part of a CSAA involves a change in our relationship with food. It starts with contact with the land and the producers of our food, understanding the seasonality and territoriality of species, discovering unconventional foods and new flavors and recipes, and, most importantly, taking shared responsibility for the risks and infeasibility of certain conveniences and demands. For some people, these changes are celebrated along with the entire chain of agroecological food production that benefits our bodies, the ecosystem, and the local community.

However, for people who only seek poison-free food or do not care about the socio-environmental impact of industrial agriculture, these changes may be misunderstood. To reach them and spread motivation for building a CSAA, it is essential to share educational content about agroecology and the CSAA model.

Fortunately, many collectives have already created and shared their content. With a simple search for terms like 'CSA' or 'agroecology,' you can find a lot of support material for creating and adapting content that educates about the concepts behind your initiative and has the voice of your community.

In order to break paradigms, this awareness and education work must be continuous.

4. ORGANIZE WORK DAYS AND VOLUNTEERS

One of the most impactful and effective ways to understand the true meaning of a CSAA is by getting your hands in the soil. Therefore, the term co-producers, to indicate that people consuming the food are also producers, should also experience the work of cultivating their own food.

The logic of workdays, in addition to being a community activity that brings people together and redefines time spent in nature, allows for a massive workload to be distributed lightly among all members.

Therefore, you should plan workdays of all levels of complexity and throughout the year. In addition to planting, you can think of workdays for organizing and caring for the space to make it welcoming for everyone. The invitation should be extended to all families, children, and the elderly, as well as to other communities and partners.

CSAA Confraria da Horta holds workdays in partnership with schools, NGOs, and other collectives. They welcome members of these groups to their workdays and, in exchange for labor assistance, CSAA offers consulting for creating gardens in the partners' spaces. They are also organizing events with the 'plant and take' logic, where people can visit the space, participate in activities, and leave with a basket of food.

"Agroforests only come out when there's a workday and a lot of celebration" is a line from a song often sung on these occasions. It highlights the importance of celebration in reviving these forms of collective work. This excerpt emphasizes the importance of art in nurturing our spirits while working the land and making the work even lighter. In a section below, we will discuss in more detail how to incorporate art into CSAA activities.

CSAA Confraria da Horta - Community work and agroecology workshop

CSAA Santa Teresa - collective planting event for herbs and spices

CSAA Regência - collective effort to build a rainwater harvesting system

5. PROVIDE CONSTANT UPDATES ON PLANTATION AND SPACE DEVELOPMENT

Apart from workdays, it is essential to continue involving community members in the development of activities in the CSAA. Keeping communication channels filled with photos and testimonials helps maintain the sense of belonging among distant members. Sharing the passion and admiration for all life being cultivated by the CSAA keeps the flame alive and the pleasure of being one of the contributors to such a collective space.

6. BUILD A NETWORK AND PARTNER WITH OTHER PRODUCERS

It's always good to remember that you are not alone. As unconventional as this proposal may seem, there are many other people around the world who are running or want to start similar projects. To strengthen your community, it is also interesting to participate in networks with the same purpose.

In Brazil, there are many groups, associations, and fairs that bring together agroecological producers. The CSA Brazil Community Association carries out various network activities and has a map of initiatives. They are part of Urgenci, which aims to be an international network of CSAs and agroecological projects. Many other associations like these exist, and being part of one of them will make a difference in knowledge exchange and the growth of your community.

For example, participating in an agroecological fair can bring in more co-producers or even farmer partners who can help diversify your production, including a wider variety of foods.

CSAA Arandu - CSAA booth at the Agroecological Fair of Anapólis

IV. PROMOTE ARTISTIC AND CULTURAL ACTIVITIES

"Agriculture is the art of harvesting the sun." If we analyze it from this perspective, agroecological planting is an art in itself. Being able to multiply forms of life in the soil, increase the biodiversity of insects and plants, promote syntropy through techniques that encourage an increase in all forms of life naturally and sustainably—this process is the art of humans rediscovering their place in nature.

And nothing better than the combination of various forms of art to ensure the complete delight of our spirits and souls. For the Muda network, CSAA serves as nourishment for the body and soul.

Just like in sustainable agriculture, the current paradigm is often unfavorable and does not encourage cultural workers. Including representatives from these two extremely important niches for our health and well-being is powerful and impactful.

To achieve this, we encourage the inclusion of artists in the network of co-producers of CSAA so that more artists can participate in workdays and benefit from food baskets.

Simply reach out to artists and cultural producers in your network and invite them to join the team or participate as co-producers. In the case of CSAA Arandu, the scarcity of work during the pandemic led a circus family to try their hand at farming. This brought the magic of the circus to planting and resulted in the first case of CSAA in the Muda network.

CSAA Terra Orgânica conducted a call for community members to nominate artists in need to receive food baskets in exchange for participating in workdays and other events. Turning workdays into celebrations with music, food, and dance greatly increased the satisfaction of volunteers and exchanges among members.

CSAA Arandu - clowns from Cia Boca de Lixo and members of the CSAA team

CSAA Terra Orgânica - announcement for the second edition of the "AMANHO: sing, play, and plant" event.

V - PROMOTE A SOLIDARITY ECONOMY

Among the principles of agroecology is the valorization of solidarity and the unity among rural families in seeking improvements. For this, families historically use various forms of cooperation in work, production, and marketing. Workdays are one of these widely used techniques of mutual aid.

The exchange of surplus production and organization into cooperatives represent other mechanisms of a solidarity economy that enables these families to enter larger markets.

There are numerous direct benefits to bringing consumption closer to production through local markets, such as lower costs and better food quality. Today, technology can help build these markets and direct consumers to agroecological producers, such as through the use of social and complementary currencies.

By using a social currency like Muda, community members have their purchasing power restricted to network merchants, inevitably increasing internal exchanges and introducing food producers to other community members.

On the Muda platform, agroecological food baskets are the most sold and sought-after offerings. In a single support network, we manage to strengthen agroecological producers, artists, and people in vulnerable situations. Through the circulation of social currency, many people who normally would not be able to access organic and agroecological food now consume them and are accustomed to receiving diverse, even exotic, foods and sharing old and new recipes. This exemplifies how social currencies can intensify a solidarity economy.

Creating a social currency has its level of complexity, but there are platforms that assist in this process by providing a technological interface. This is the case with Cambiatus, a platform used by the Muda network. In addition to the option of creating your own currency for your local market, you can seek communities that already have a currency and are aligned with your values and those of your partners.

REFERENCES

A CARTILHA AGROECOLÓGICA - Instituto Giramundo Mutuando

Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) Resource Guide for Farmers - NC State Extension