Zurich Supported Agriculture The Origins of CSA by JanVanderTuin The early 1980’s were inspiring years for Swiss activists. The youth were rebellious, and citizens at large asked questions of the nation that epitomizes capitalism. I saw many evolving solutions to problems that I, coming from the States, had written off as unsolvable. I was working part-time on an organic farm outside Zurich when I heard of an organic agriculture research institute in Basle. I went there with an eye open for alternatives to market agriculture, having felt burned economically as an agricultural worker and farmer in the States. The institute director sent me to Geneva, to a successful project that addressed almost every problem I’d encountered in modem farming. This producer-consumer food co-op in Geneva was founded by a man inspired by the co-op movement in Chile during Allende’s administration. The basic idea, that consumers personally cooperate with producers to fund farming in advance, makes for more efficient use of land, since you know how much to grow, and much less stress for farmers, since you already have money to live for the year. The Geneva group had been mnning for nearly a decade on this principle, with 180 families getting their produce from a small farm outside of the city. They began with small plots around town, producing somewhat haphazardly what they could with what money they got from people in advance. Although the harvests were small, the original investing consumers tmsted that the growers were doing their best and would improve over time. This was the most radical Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) group I have ever encountered. They actually sent out questionnaires asking their consumers how much money they made, in the hope that they would pay a share proportional to their income. They were very brazen, but 1 think this made them successful. If they wanted you to become a shareholder, they'd offer the idea to you without compromise. If you didn't “get it”, they left you alone, and maybe you’d discover on your own or from your neighbor why eSA’s were such a good idea. The share-holders included committed families who worked for international development organizations and were looking for ways to live sensibly at home. The project wasn’t perfect; they didn’t have enough land to keep animals, so they imported manure, and they were always struggling with high land rents. Finding farmland is much harder in Switzerland than in the States. On the other hand this makes it easier to find good farmers, because in Switzerland they work hard to keep their limited amount of land healthy. 1 went to two other eSA’s, one in Basle and one in Liechtenstein, both associated with Anthroposophy, the movement that created Waldorf schools. Camp Hill Villages for the developmentally disabled, etc. Most of their share-holders came from this movement. The European Anthroposophics didn’t really promote CSA’s, however, as their counterparts in the States later would. Back in Zurich I was introduced to Christophe, a rather philosophical vendor of organic produce, nuts, cheese and raw milk. He went from quartier to quartier selling on the street out of a cute little French step-van. We collected a small core group, and I organized a meeting of local farmers, organizers from the CSA’s I’d visited, and others who showed interest in At thefarm: Paul, a founding member ofTopinambur in Zurich, and a dedicated human powered utility vehicle enthusiast, prepares to ride for an hour and a halfto deliver about twentyfamily shares. These go to a few communal depots in the families' neighborhoods. Before getting involved with community supported agriculture, Paul was involved in the design ofthe primary computer software for the Swiss tax system. Jan built the trailer. Page 6 Rain Winter/Spring 1992 Volume XIV, Number 2
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