ABSTRACT
China’s changing food system has unveiled many environmental and social problems. On the one hand, food safety has become the top concern among Chinese citizens, which has generated severe sociopolitical consequences. On the other hand, China’s agriculture sector has been dependent on the usage of chemical pesticides and synthetic fertilizer, and its food supply chains are increasingly delocalized and elongated, distancing farmers from consumers and creating distrust between them. Collectively, these problems have led to a significant lack of trust among consumers in the safety of food. It was in this context that community-supported agriculture (CSA) was introduced to China and has been rapidly developing since 2006. Using the cases of the Gao family CSA in Anlong village in Sichuan province and the Shared Harvest CSA in Beijing, this chapter illustrates how CSAs in China provide a valid solution to reconvene trust between producers and consumers. These two cases, although very different, show that a commitment to ecological farming approaches and the creation of an open environment for learning and participation forge a solid ground for building and maintaining consumer trust. It argues that CSAs in China not only address the sustainability challenge confronting the food system, but also shed light on more profound social problems, such as the declining social trust and the marginalization of peasants.
