Rooted in Resilience: How CSAs Kept Growing Through Another Tough Year

Date Published: 22nd October 2025

This year has tested us all, from rising costs and erratic weather to shifting farm policy and the ongoing strain of keeping food both fair and local. Yet across the UK, our community supported agriculture (CSA) farms have kept feeding people, building soil, supporting biodiversity and nurturing connection.

It’s no small thing.

Our 2024–25 Annual Report celebrates these everyday acts of resilience and community care. Despite the pressures, CSAs continue to deliver public goods that supermarkets never could: fresh food grown with care, thriving ecosystems and meaningful work that brings people together.

Highlights from the year

• 🌾 We launched a two-year pilot in West Yorkshire exploring inclusion, access and circular economies in CSA thanks to new funding from the JJ Charitable Trust and Serve All Trust.
• 🧑‍🌾 Our CSA Incubator Programme continues to grow, helping new farms find their feet, while our online courses and masterclasses reach more farmers and community organisers.
• 🌍 We helped form the UK Fruit and Vegetable Coalition to advocate for an organic, agroecological future and are proud to be shaping the policies that affect small farms.
• 🌱 Through Landmatch England, backed by £120,000 from Esmée Fairbairn, we’re connecting people with land and opportunity.

And amid it all, our network of 184 member farms continues to hold strong, feeding around 87 households each on average, up from last year.

Resilience in tough times

Even in the face of financial stress, unpredictable weather and burnout, our farms reported a growing sense of resilience – social, environmental and emotional.

As one CSA put it:

“Still showing up and trying to provide local food for local people that doesn’t cost the earth while being hit by things from every direction.”

Looking ahead

As we move into 2025–26, we’re listening deeply to our members to shape a strategy to support our members in the face of change and prepare for the local food renaissance that’s surely on the horizon. Our vision remains bold: a CSA in every neighbourhood by 2035.

We’re grateful to all our funders, members and friends who make this work possible. Your support keeps the network healthy and alive.

Read the full Annual Report to see the stories, numbers, and people behind this year’s achievements.

Image: Tomnah’a Market Garden in Comrie, Scotland by Andy Buchanan