Collective farm shops and AMAP (French CSA) in southwest France. Commitment and delegation on the part of producers and consumers.

Résumé :

Local relations between producers and consumers are examined through the prism of two types of collective system: Associations pour le Maintien d’une Agriculture Paysanne (AMAP, french CSA, Community-Supported Agriculture) and Collective Farm Shops (CFS). We refer to a study of the Midi-Pyrénées region carried out in 2007. We make a particular study of what motivates consumers and producers alike. Having demonstrated the significant increase in the numbers of regional collectives schemes, we highlight a range of existing tensions in the way that these collectives and networks of collectives (CSA) operate. The combined CSA/CFS approach allows a better vision of the skills deficits encountered amongst producers who are required to play a number of different roles, and provides a definition of routine, the most natural agricultural situation encountered in a CSA-style partnership.