Reskilling through alternative provisioning: learning, limits, and tactile engagement in a civic food network

Community-supported agriculture (CSA) initiatives have gained increasing attention in recent years. This article contributes to a growing body of scholarship on how Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) enables consumer reskilling and up-skilling amid widespread deskilling caused by industrialized food systems. Drawing on a 36-month organizational ethnography, which included participant observation, semi-structured interviews with 27 member households and nine producers, as well as documentary analysis, the study examines the sensory, practical, social, and systemic dimensions of food knowledge acquisition within CSAs. It frames reskilling through the concepts of tactile space, forms of deskilling, and alternative food networks as sites for embodied learning. Findings show that CSA participation enables complex, non-linear learning pathways shaped by embodied engagement, peer-to-peer knowledge exchange, and direct encounters with seasonal, unprocessed foods. Yet these learning processes are also mediated by individual life circumstances and structural challenges, particularly the CSA’s wholesale distribution model, which fosters sharing but can strain alignment with varied household needs. Ultimately, the research highlights Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) as an important civic space where the political, ethical, and material aspects of food converge, offering both opportunities and constraints for cultivating sustainable food citizenship.