Are we ready for community-supported agriculture?

By Annie Wei

As food safety issues become a major public concern, an increasing number of small organic farms like DeRunWu, Shien and BEYOND have set up shop and built good relationships with foreign residents.

Now eco-agricultural farms need to win over local consumers. Shi Yan, a 27-year-old doctoral student at Renmin University of China, is part of the campaign. In 2008, she became the first Chinese national to study community-supported agriculture (CSA) in the US, and last year began her CSA research project outside of North Sixth Ring Road.

This weekend, Shi and other eco-agricultural experts are holding a seminar at Renmin University to talk about how urban and rural residents can help each other promote more environmentally friendly and safer eating habits.

Beijing Today talked to her about her passion for CSA and how it can be popularized in the country.

Shi Yan creates a farming model she learned in the US. Photos provided by Shi Yan