Our first meeting to discuss setting up a Community Supported Agriculture Scheme was held at Birdwood House on Wednesday 14th May.

 About 40 people came together to put their heads together on the subject of setting up a Community Supported Agriculture Scheme in the Totnes area. We heard first about what a CSA Scheme involves and the different kinds of models that operate around the world from Noni Mackenzie. Christian Taylor then gave information about what his locally based Community Supported Farming Group have been doing over the past few years working with local farmers and growers and his latest project keeping chickens which he would like to open up to community involvement. Noel Longhurst then gave an idea of how the Totnes Pound project was developing and the ways in which the currency could be used in a similar way to early banking ideas to support agriculture, backing the currency with land or land-based enterprises. This was followed by an open forum in which people expressed their ideas about what a CSA could offer them, what they could give to it and how the community could benefit, there were many shared aspirations which are reported here. We then moved on to consider the next steps we might take, we will meet again on 25th June, meanwhile a small group agreed to meet to write up the group’s ideas and plan the next meeting.