According to localharvest.org, Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) is:
…a popular way for consumers to buy local, seasonal food directly from a farmer. Here are the basics: a farmer offers a certain number of “shares” to the public. Typically the share consists of a box of vegetables, but other farm products may be included. Interested consumers purchase a share (aka a “membership” or a “subscription”) and in return receive a box (bag, basket) of seasonal produce each week throughout the farming season.
and the benefits of CSAs are:
- Get to spend time marketing the food early in the year, before their 16 hour days in the field begin
- Receive payment early in the season, which helps with the farm’s cash flow
- Have an opportunity to get to know the people who eat the food they grow
- Eat ultra-fresh food, with all the flavor and vitamin benefits
- Get exposed to new vegetables and new ways of cooking
- Usually get to visit the farm at least once a season
- Find that kids typically favor food from “their” farm – even veggies they’ve never been known to eat
- Develop a relationship with the farmer who grows their food and learn more about how food is grown
We had talked about joining a CSA for a long time before making the plunge and when we joined our local program, Beneficial Farms last fall and were very, very, very excited about it. We signed up for the weekly veggie share ($25) as well as the weekly meat share ($5) and arranged to pick up our shares at a local food bank every Thursday at lunch time (they offer a variety of pick up places and times).
In our weekly shares we have gotten a variety of foods that have been familiar (onions, potatoes, salad greens), not so familiar (swiss chard, bok choy, sun chokes, blue corn flour) and absolutely fantastic (garlic braids & local ground beef).
We enjoy the feel of community each time we pick up our CSA, knowing our food is local (or local-ish…sometimes items come from as far away as Colorado and occasionally as far away as Hawaii if you consider the ginger we got a couple of weeks ago). We like knowing that we are supporting farmers. We enjoy the variety offered, not only with the veggies we get each week, but with the honey, flours, jams & peanuts that show up as happy surprises from time to time! We are learning about new (seasonal) veggies, what they look and taste like and how to cook them.
We have been challenged by the over abundance of potatoes and onions in some shares (how many meals can you really cook with the 15 onions sitting on your counter???) and greens in all of the shares we’ve gotten now for weeks on end, especially since our own greens are in abundance this spring. We will have to learn how to store certain foods as they come in in abundance (pickled onions? dehydrated zucchini?) both from our CSA and our garden at the same time. We’ve been challenged by a want for fresh beef (as opposed to frozen) for the mere pleasure of the texture it maintains when cooked and by not really knowing the farmers or ranchers who we are getting all this wonderful food from. For example, if we were to go to the Farmers Market we would be actually shaking hands with our farmers while handing them cash as opposed to supporting them from afar.
All challenges aside, becoming a member of our local CSA has given us a great opportunity to get closer to our food sources, support them in a real way and to eat healthier on a regular basis. As of right now, we are still enjoying the experience and look forward to our weekly share. Our intention is to see it through the year (which would take us through the summer and into next fall) while continuing to assess what is working and what is not.
Learn more about your local CSA here. Cheers!!!
