This year more than any has shown how resilient agroecological farms are. Many farms in China’s CSA network have performed very well during the pandemic, both economically as well as being responsive to the needs of the consumer who realised the essential necessity to eat good, healthy food to boost their immunity in the face of the “pandemic enemy”. The effect of this is that producer-consumer relationships have grown and changed in that the bond is now much closer. 

Being able to eat organic, healthy food that has gone from “farm to table” in 24 hours has engendered a deep mutual gratitude in CSA members. The pandemic generated a fighting spirit on the side of both producers and consumers. This brought out the essence of community supported agriculture which is that the relationship between farmers and consumers is stable, mutually supportive, and collaborative.

Join Shi Yan, an organic pioneer and the founder of the first CSA in China. She now runs Shared Harvests, a CSA which now provides food for over a thousand families in Beijing.