Farming on the Fringe : Enhancing China’s Food Security through Community Supported Agriculture

Abstract: Amid the many food safety scandals and rapid urbanization, China’s peri-urban areas have recently witnessed the emergence of alternative food systems (AFSs). Situated in a context different from that of the West, their impact has remained poorly understood and under researched. This paper explores how Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) can enhance food security in China’s cities. Based on Polanyi’s notion of embeddedness this thesis analyses the impact of CSA on consumer-farmer relations and on a wider socio-spatial context. The findings show that reciprocal interactions facilitated through the CSA model have improved food safety by generating trust between consumer and farmer. In its wider relational context, CSAs have provided urban citizens with more choice and influence while contributions to enhance environmental resources for future food demands are also evident. While CSA remains bound by a number of challenges and limitations, it is suggested that certain features of the model can be adopted in response to prevailing issues in China’s food systems as well.