Community Supported Agriculture

By Carola Strassner, Muenster University of Applied Sciences

Questions to guide discussions

How can we assess the health and environmental benefits of CSA versus regular diet?
What is the unique aspect of the CSA concept, in terms of changing the consumption-production dichotomy?
What are the wider aspects of CSA in terms of energy consumption? Food processing, transport to retail, transport from retail, etc.?
What could be some downsides to eating local?
What spices / products can not be managed locally and what would this mean in terms of solidarity with other regions?

Biography

Carola Strassner is Professor of Sustainable Food Systems and Nutrition Ecology at Münster University of Applied Sciences, specialising in food systems sustainability, especially alternative food networks and the out-of-home (horeca) context. She was founding member of the CSA Entrup 119 and is managing partner of the business company a’verdis – Sustainable FoodService Solutions. Carola is a Life Sciences graduate of the University of Cape Town (Biochemistry, Microbiology), with an M.Sc in Food Science from the University of Durban/Kwazulu-Natal and an MBA from Henley Management College (today: University of Reading, UK). She got her Ph.D. in Nutritional Sciences and Home Economics at the Justus-Liebig University in Germany. Carola gathered industry experience as Head of R&D at a medium-sized German health enterprise and as an entrepreneur in the field of food market consulting.