"Tons of potential" for Community Supported Agriculture

After three seasons in a row, Yves Diederich needs a break. For two months, he wants to stay out of the vegetable patch "to catch his breath". Three years with many uncertainties, the responsibility of paying his employees, customer management, logistics, cultivation, and financial planning, bookkeeping, and the bureaucracy that comes with it, are behind him. The miserable weather this year comes on top of that. "This year has been quite severe", says the 40-year-old laconically. "The business is running, but not as well as it should". Yves Diederich is taking time off primarily to plan for the coming year. Because even after three years, he is still fine-tuning the right balance between price, workload, and members.

Vum Gréis is one of seven initiatives in the country today that function according to the model of Community Supported Agriculture (CSA or Solawi). The basic principle is quickly explained: a group of consumers pays the farmer or gardener in advance for a season and thus secures his or her income. In return, the members receive a share of the harvest, usually on a weekly basis. In some farms, members can also actively help and harvest radishes, carrots and the like themselves.