Resilient community farms for a resilient community future
Date Published: 27th May 2026
Our member survey results 2026
Every year we run an annual survey to keep track of how our CSA farm members are doing and to collect data to continue advocating for CSA in the UK.
Climate and extreme weather came up as a common issue. Many CSAs experienced drought or extreme heat last year, resulting in loss or damage to crops. Some CSAs had issues with high winds and flooding. As a result our resilient CSA farms are planning or investing in improved irrigation systems, increased rainwater harvesting and other measures like adding shelter belts, increasing cover cropping, green manures and increasing soil organic content.
“We are adapting all the time to the local climate and how best to protect the fruit crops.”
Only 1/3 CSAs will apply for government funding (SFI) the other 2/3 are ineligible. We continue to campaign on this funding being available for all CSA farms regardless of land size. Despite this, 90% offer activities to support their community and 80% actively support food access through subsidised shares or food donations. There is also very high life and job satisfaction and a sense of what they do being worthwhile. These results show just how resilient CSAs are to function with little government support and funding yet still offering opportunities and huge benefits within their communities.
There were concerns amongst CSAs for their financial viability due to further inflation of costs and lack of back-up funds and CSAs said they would appreciate financial support and funding for things like critical infrastructure. We are part of the UK Fruit and Veg Alliance campaigning for a Market Garden Support Fund which would pay CSAs for the social and environmental benefits they deliver.
“I think CSAs offer many social, cultural and environmental benefits and in this way they offer something very people focused which there seems to be demand for among customers. It would be great if this was recognised by the government as something valuable beyond economic viability.” CSA Farm member 2026
Full results summary below:
