To gather a variety of CSA member perspectives we facilitated 4 focus groups with 23 current and former Troy CSA members.  The groups were divided up as follows: 

Groups 1 and 2: Current CSA members
Group 3: “Engaged” CSA members*
Group 4: Former members

*Engaged members included those that work on the farm in exchange for their share (“workershares”) and members of the “Core Group,” which is a group of volunteers dedicated to making the farm successful.

Data Analysis

Focus group sessions were recorded and transcribed.  These transcriptions were organized and analyzed for common trends.

Surveys

We compared the qualitative data from the focus groups with quantitative data from the 2005 end of season CSA member surveys, which were designed by Marcia Caton-Campbell.  These surveys were distributed to 2005 CSA members at the farm stand and 44% of the CSA members returned the survey. 

Farmer Feedback

At the end of the study we discussed the results with Claire Strader, the farm manager, to verify findings and discuss implied recommendations.