Im(Proving) the CSA Model
Public ClinicalTrials.gov record NCT03231592. Field values are reproduced from the official study page; the official ClinicalTrials.gov record remains the source of truth for eligibility, enrollment, and contact information.
Data is sourced from official ClinicalTrials.gov public API records. Always review the official ClinicalTrials.gov record for the latest information.
Brief summary
Reproduced verbatim from the official ClinicalTrials.gov record. Not medical advice.
In 1986, The Pioneer Valley in Western Massachusetts was home to one of the first two community supported agriculture (CSA) businesses in the USA. In 2014, there were 6,200 CSAs across the states, and today, in the Pioneer Valley alone, there are sixty CSAs. As with many parts of the United States, there are too many CSAs competing for the same pool of middle and upper-class customers. In his research at the University of Massachusetts in 2014, Mark Paul stated CSA farms are trapped in a lose-lose conundrum in which the farmers are not making enough money for a living wage, while simultaneously CSA shares are too expensive for many community members. The central challenge facing the CSA model moving forward is to provide fair compensation to farmers and farm workers, while making shares available at prices that can attract more members of the community. "(Im)Proving the CSA Model" proposes to increase consumption of and access to local products AND to develop new market opportunities for farms by opening the CSA membership base nationwide to low-income consumers and more price conscious middle class consumers. The investigators will do this by researching and documenting the health benefits of belonging to a CSA program. The investigators expect the resulting data to justify insurance-provided cash "wellness" benefits for CSA participation, much like those currently provided for gym membership. A wellness benefit will provide the financial incentive necessary to open CSA programs to lower- and middle-income consumers. The two-year research study intends to demonstrate that enrolling community health center patients in a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) program is feasible and leads to dietary improvements that would be expected to offer clinical benefits in larger scale studies over longer timeframes. To maximize the knowledge gained from participation in this study, the investigators will measure several self-reported, laboratory, and clinical outcomes, but the primary purpose of this study is to provide pilot data for the model. To test this the investigators will implement a randomized controlled clinical trial design, with individual-level randomization of 120 participants, assigned in 1:1 ratio to receipt of a CSA membership (goal: 60 participants) or enhanced usual care (goal: 60 participants).
Study identification
- NCT ID
- NCT03231592
- Recruitment status
- Not listed
- Study type
- Interventional
- Phase
- Not applicable
- Enrollment
- 120 participants
Conditions and interventions
Eligibility (public fields only)
- Age range
- 18 Years and older
- Sex
- All
- Healthy volunteers
- Healthy volunteers not accepted
This page does not interpret eligibility. Detailed inclusion and exclusion criteria are on the official ClinicalTrials.gov record.
Study timeline
- Start date
- May 9, 2017
- Primary completion
- Dec 19, 2018
- Completion
- Dec 19, 2018
- Last update posted
- Jul 26, 2017
2017 – 2018
United States locations
- U.S. sites
- 1
- U.S. states
- 1
- U.S. cities
- 1
| Facility | City | State | ZIP | Site status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Community Health Center of Franklin County | Greenfield | Massachusetts | 01301 | Recruiting |
Site contact phone numbers, emails, and investigator names are intentionally not displayed here. Open the official ClinicalTrials.gov record for site contact information.
About this trial record page
- What this page shows
- Public field values for ClinicalTrials.gov record NCT03231592, including study identification, conditions, interventions, eligibility (age, sex, healthy volunteer), timeline, and U.S. site list.
- What this page does not do
- No medical advice, eligibility judgments, treatment recommendations, study quality scoring, or AI-generated medical summaries. No site contact phone numbers, emails, or investigator names.
- Where the data comes from
- Sourced from the official ClinicalTrials.gov public API. The official record is the source of truth.
- Last refresh
- Last update posted Jul 26, 2017 · Synced Sep 6, 2026
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Open the official record
The complete protocol, eligibility criteria, and contact information for NCT03231592 live on ClinicalTrials.gov.