Guest post by Caitlin McCormack

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I spend some of my Saturdays helping out on a local farm. A group of us go and lend a hand with the sowing, planting, harvesting or weeding that needs doing that particular week. In return, we take home seasonal veg, as well as joining in on a big, shared lunch where everyone brings a dish and sits around drinking tea and chatting. The fresh air and exercise and chance to do something practical are a very welcome change from my desk-based job, and I’ve also appreciated the chance to learn something about what farming involves.

The scheme is organised through CropShare, a project of the Cambridge Transition food group. It’s been an arrangement with the owners of Cambridgeshire’s Willow Farm, Paul and Doreen, since 2011. Until recently, however, I hadn’t thought much more about how the whole thing works. When I’ve described it to other people, I’ve said it’s ‘like a Community Support Agriculture scheme’. But I realised recently that I wasn’t entirely sure how Community Supported Agriculture is defined, how it really works, or what the idea behind it is.

Read the rest of the article on Caitlin’s blog