Urgenci’s CSA Declaration for Europe in Full

Community Supported Agriculture network Urgenci held their 3rd European CSA meeting last weekend in Ostrava, Czech Republic. Below is the Declaration adopted in full.  Here is Urgenci’s report on the event. ARC2020’s Oliver Moore was there too. Declaration to download as PDF.

Nrgenci members hold up the plan for implementation of the CSA declaration , in Ostrava. (c) Oliver Moore
Urgenci members hold up the plan for implementation of the CSA declaration. (c) Oliver Moore

PREAMBLE

All over Europe, people are coming together to take control of our food systems, from production to distribution to consumption. We are building systems centered on our local communities. We are joining forces to achieve food sovereignty, by claiming our right to define our own food and agricultural systems.

The time is ripe to address the disastrous effects of the industrial food system. Food is too important to merely treat it as a commodity. The Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) movement generates practical, inclusive solutions to the food crises. We are many, varied and united. We are stepping up in solidarity– taking responsibility – to create socially inclusive, economically viable and environmentally sustainable food systems. Hundreds of thousands of people in Europe have already proven that CSA works, by creating a variety of practices, initiatives and networks based on common values. Building upon the existing charters and experiences, this declaration aims to lay down the common ground for this CSA movement to flourish.

DEFINITION

Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) is a direct partnership based on the human relationship between people and one or several producer(s), whereby the risks, responsibilities and rewards of farming are shared, through a longterm, binding agreement.

CSA GUIDING PRINCIPLES

CSA is not a static model. Like a garden it is dynamic: it evolves and grows through daily care. Each CSA partnership has autonomy. We also agree on these basic principles as our common ground to grow the CSA movement.

• Responsible care for the soil, water, seeds and the other commons through the agroecological principles and practices as found in this declaration and the Nyeleni Declaration 2015

• Food as a common good not a commodity.

• Human scale production rooted in local realities and knowledges.

• Fair working conditions and decent income for all involved.

• Respect for the environment and animal welfare.

• Fresh, local, seasonal, healthy and diverse food accessible to all.

• Community building through direct and long term relationships with shared responsibility, risks and rewards.

• Active participation based on trust, understanding, respect, transparency and cooperation.

• Mutual support and solidarity beyond borders.

BUILD – DEVELOP – EMPOWER

We want to build a strong coalition of CSAs and CSA networks across Europe to:

• Strengthen the CSA movement and help new CSAs to flourish.

• Enable sharing of knowledge and skills between CSAs in different countries.

• Conduct and promote participatory research on our farms and in our networks.

• Empower and educate people to act for and develop the movement

• Show the benefits of CSA for the whole of society.

• Advocate for CSA communities at international, European and local level to implement our principles.

• Engage in local food governance.

• Work together with the food sovereignty movement and strengthen our alliance with social and solidarity economy movements.

We are a grassroots movement: we believe that the power of CSA is in pragmatic, everyday action and face-to-face relationships. We are connecting with each other, with the producers in our communities, and with the living soil beneath our feet. This is our Common Ground.

Adopted by 3rd European Meeting of CSA on 17th September in Ostrava, Czech Republic

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About Oliver Moore 210 Articles

Dr. Oliver Moore is the communications director and editor-in-chief with ARC2020. He has a PhD in the sociology of farming and food, where he specialised in organics and direct sales. He is published in the International Journal of Consumer Studies, International Journal of Agricultural Resources, Governance and Ecology and the Journal of Agriculture, Food Systems, and Community Development. A weekly columnist and contributor with Irish Examiner, he is a regular on Countrywide (Irish farm radio show on the national broadcaster RTE 1) and engages in other communications work around agri-food and rural issues, such as with the soil, permaculture, climate change adaptation and citizen science initiative Grow Observatory . He lectures part time in the Centre for Co-operative Studies UCC.

A propos d'Oliver Moore
Oliver voyage beaucoup moins qu’auparavant, pour ce qui concerne son activité professionnelle. Il peut néanmoins admirer par la fenêtre de son bureau les mésanges charbonnières et les corbeaux perchés au sommet du saule dans le jardin de sa maison au cœur de l’écovillage de Cloughjordan, en Irlande. L’écovillage est un site de 67 acres dans le nord du Tipperary. Il comprend d’espaces boisés, des paysages comestibles, des lieux de vie, d’habitation et de travail, ainsi qu’une ferme appartenant à la communauté. Les jours où il travaille dans le bureau du centre d’entreprise communautaire, il profite d’une vue sur les chevaux, les panneaux solaires, les toilettes sèches et les jardins familiaux. 

Ce bureau au sein de l’écovillage constitue en effet un tiers-lieu de travail accueillant également des collaborateurs des associations Cultivate et Ecolise, ainsi qu’un laboratoire de fabrication (« fab lab »). 

Oliver est membre du conseil d’administration de la ferme communautaire (pour la seconde fois !) et donne également des cours sur le Master en coopératives, agroalimentaire et développement durable à l’University College Cork. Il a une formation en sociologie rurale : son doctorat et les articles qu’il publie dans des journaux scientifiques portent sur ce domaine au sens large.

Il consacre la majorité de son temps de travail à l’ARC 2020. Il collabore avec ARC depuis 2013, date à laquelle l’Irlande a assuré la présidence de l’UE pendant six mois. C’est là qu’il a pu constater l’importance de la politique agroalimentaire et rurale grâce à sa chronique hebdomadaire sur le site d’ARC. Après six mois, il est nommé rédacteur en chef et responsable de la communication, poste qu’il occupe toujours aujourd’hui. Oliver supervise le contenu du site web et des médias sociaux, aide à définir l’orientation de l’organisation et parfois même rédige un article pour le site web. 

À l’époque où on voyageait davantage, il a eu la chance de passer du temps sous les tropiques, où il a aidé des ONG irlandaises de commerce équitable – au Ghana, au Kenya, au Mali, en Inde et au Salvador – à raconter leur histoire.

Il se peut que ces jours-là reviennent. Pour son compte Oliver continuera de préférer naviguer en Europe par bateau, puis en train. Après tout, la France n’est qu’à une nuit de navigation. En attendant, il y a toujours de nombreuses possibilités de bénévolat dans la communauté dans les campagnes du centre de l’Irlande.