Completed Project Report


Managing Legal and Financial Risk in Community-Supported Agriculture (CSA) Programs

  • Award Amount: $45,000
  • Regional Center: North Central Extension Risk Management Education Center
  • Grant Program: 2011 Unrestricted Grants
  • Project Director: Bryan Endres
  • Email: bendres@illinois.edu
  • Organization: University of Illinois, Dept. of Agricultural and Consumer Economics

Extension RME Regional Centers
Extension Risk Management Education Region Map

Project Overview

Combined with extensive research into the practices and preferences of CSA farmers and consumers, this project created three model legal agreements and two guides for CSA farmers. The first publication is a model CSA member/shareholder agreement that discusses the various elements a CSA farmer should integrate into a member agreement and provides sample language. The second publication is a model worker share agreement that is designed to protect a CSA farmer who works with compensated volunteers from undue liability for worker share injuries or minimum wage claims. An accompanying guide explains the suggested language of the agreement. A third model illustrates a volunteer liability waiver for farmers to use with uncompensated volunteers. We published two guides to assist CSA farmers in researching the minmum wage and workers´ compensation laws relevant to their operation. Each were disseminated online and individually via email and postal mail to farmers and stakeholdres. Then, we hosted two webinars, which were attended by CSA farmers nationwide, to introduce and further explain these resources.

Number of Participants: 785

Outcomes

Project Steps

PROMOTIONAL MATERIALS

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EDUCATIONAL MATERIALS

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REPORTS & EVALUATIONS

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DELIVERY AREA

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