Locally Grown Food: How It Supports People and Planet

What if your weekly veggies came with a sense of purpose?

Across Switzerland, hundreds of people are rediscovering what it means to grow fresh produce, together.

They plant, harvest, and share locally grown food straight from the soil, rebuilding not only local food systems but also a sense of community.

This growing movement is called community-supported agriculture (CSA) or, in German, Solidarische Landwirtschaft (SOLAWI) or Regionale Vertragslandwirtschaft (RVL).

It’s a partnership between farmers and consumers based on solidarity, transparency, and care for the land.

For decades, the global food system has focused on producing more — more yield, more calories, more profit.

The so-called Green Revolution brought industrial fertilizers, pesticides, and high-yield crops that fed millions. But the price has been steep.

Industrial agriculture has accelerated land degradation by exhausting soils through intensive monocultures, heavy tilling, and excessive chemical inputs. Over time, this combination strips the soil of nutrients, disrupts its natural structure, and increases erosion, leaving once-fertile land depleted and far less resilient (UNEP).

This degradation also drives a steep decline in biodiversity. Today, just three crops — rice, maize, and wheat — provide 60% of global calories, crowding out thousands of native plant species and the diverse insects, birds, and microorganisms that depend on them. In addition, fertilizer runoff pollutes rivers and oceans. Agriculture now accounts for roughly a quarter of global greenhouse gas emissions and uses half of the world’s habitable land. 

This system doesn’t just harm nature; it harms people.Industrial farming exposes workers and wildlife to toxins, drives deforestation, and fuels antibiotic resistance. Farmers often struggle to survive despite producing record harvests. Food has become a cheap commodity —abundant yet disconnected from its true cost.

In short: our food system feeds the world, but it doesn’t nourish it.

Community-supported agriculture flips this logic.

Instead of distant supply chains and faceless markets, CSA builds direct partnerships between farmers and consumers so that the latter can easily have access to locally grown food. Moreover, they apply regenerative farming practices that protects the soil and the land’s biodiversity.

Members contribute a fixed amount at the start of the season, sharing the farm’s risks and rewards. They receive a regular share of fresh, seasonal produce — often harvested that very morning. Many also join in for planting days, harvest festivals, or volunteer shifts.

It’s locally grown food for people, not markets — a system rooted in fairness, trust, and transparency.

Farmers gain financial security and freedom to focus on soil health, biodiversity, and ethical practices rather than market pressures. Consumers gain more than vegetables — they gain a relationship with the people and places that feed them.

CSA brings sustainability down to earth — literally.

By embracing organic or regenerative methods, cutting food miles and eliminating packaging, these farms restore soil life, reduce emissions, and support pollinators and local ecosystems.

For participants, it’s also a way to reconnect with nature in everyday life. For those cooperatives that invite members to be hands-on, working outdoors reduces stress, improves physical and mental health, and rebuilds appreciation for seasonal rhythms.

It turns food from a transaction into an experience. One that nurtures community and wellbeing.

CSA also reshapes local economies. Instead of competing on volatile markets, farmers and consumers co-create transparent, local food cycles. That’s resilience — not just for farms, but for whole communities.

The first SOLAWI farms appeared in Switzerland in the late 1970s, inspired by models from Japan and the U.S. After a quiet start, the movement is blossoming again — today, around 40 initiatives are active across the country.

Here are a few examples:

• Pura Verdura (Zurich): More than a veggie subscription — members help harvest, transport, and plan crops, becoming part of the farm’s rhythm.
• Solawi Halde (Altendorf, Zurich): A biocyclic-vegan farm — no tractors, no animal manure, just soil regeneration and low-impact innovation.
• meh als gmües (Zurich): A cooperative where members contribute about 20 hours of work each season and share weekly harvests.

Herbstzeitlosen (Obermettlen, Bern): A SOLAWI model for ethical livestock farming that deepens ties between producers and community.

Each project looks different — but they share one principle: when people reconnect with the land, locally grown food becomes a force for regeneration.

Feeling inspired to get your hands in the soil? Here are a few ways to start:

🌱 Join or support a local SOLAWI or a community garden
Find a nearby initiative and sign up as a member. Or  volunteer for a planting day. Also quite often, municipalities run their own gardening projects. Ask your council about community gardens in your area.

If you are in Davos, get in touch with us! We run a number of related initiatives such as: 

• A bio-vegetable garden and courses
• A compost and organic waste project
• Workshops as part of the Davos Tourism programme that include foraging, fermentation and other activities
• A mini-Alpine garden at the Kirchner Museum

You can find more information here.

Pick your own produce
Try one of Switzerland’s “self-pick” farms to reconnect with food production firsthand:

• freizeit.ch – Beeren & Gemüse selber pflücken

• selberpfluecken.ch

Buy local
Support farm shops and veggie-box subscriptions such as:

• Solawi Halde – Zurich, Wädenswil, Rapperswil, Glarus

• Uglyfruits  – nationwide organic fruit & veg delivery

• Biogmües-Abo – Bern, Solothurn, Murten

• Bio Bouquet – Zürich, Basel, Bern, Solothurn

Start small
Grow herbs or tomatoes on your balcony — even tiny patches reconnect us with cycles of care and patience.

Community-supported agriculture reminds us that food can be more than a product — it can be a relationship.

Every shared harvest builds trust, resilience, and belonging.

When we grow food locally together, we grow something far greater: a culture of care — for ourselves, each other, and the planet.