It's about that time to start thinking about spring, summer, and fall veggies. Even though we have the wonders of freezing and refrigeration, food tastes best when you buy it locally and in season. Sure, blueberries are delicious in the wintertime (or anytime!), but their typical growing season is mid-May to September. This time of year, they're probably coming from somewhere in South America.
We're using these 7 weeks to be more mindful about what we eat - whole foods, no sugar, real ingredients - but where is the food coming from? One thing you should think about is joining a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA). A 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."
Advantages for farmers:
- 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
Advantages for consumers:
- 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
Check out this article from The Washington Post about area farmers markets as well as Local Harvest for information about how a CSA works and how to choose a CSA. Aside from cost, there are a number of things to consider - location, pick up day/time, season, additional items (fruit, herbs, eggs, etc) with/without an additional cost, organic, conventionally grown, etc.
Make a pro/con list to help you decide which CSA will fit your budget and lifestyle. Is organic really better if it's coming from Chile when you can get a similar non-organic (but no pesticides) item from Maryland?
Check out the Five Reasons to Go Seasonal on the Whole9 website. Included is a link to a Seasonal Produce Guide to help you choose in-season items as well as items that would be a good choice to buy organic.
Remember - good, better, best. Does it fit your budget and way of life? Do you notice a difference in how you feel when you eat certain foods.
5 comments:
I've considered purchasing shares in CSAs in the past, but my main problem is that I don't cook. I slap things together. This seven-week challenge has pushed me to use more than three ingredients in the creation of dishes and I'm now actually following recipes that require more than three spices or herbs alone.
However, I rely heavily on my fall-back vegetables. I simply don't have the time (or the desire) to figure out how to cook vegetables I have never seen before. I also don't like being locked into a pick-up schedule.
Have any of you had similar reservations about participating in a CSA and found them to be groundless?
Great link and I especially like the Seasonal Produce Guide. What has really helped me during this challenge is trying to eat as much seasonal foods as possible which means I have eliminated a lot of fruit. That has also helped lower my grocery bill. I do have a bag of apples but might eat 1 apple every other day if that.
I used to have reservations about belonging to a CSA because of 1) the cost and 2) not being able to pick what food I want and being 'stuck' with food(s) I don't like. I joined Arganica Farm Club (http://arganica.com) back in December through a Living Social deal. I really like it so far. Yes you have to pay a membership fee, but that was reduced because it was offered through Living Social. You can order a crate of food weekly or less with a $25 minimum order. What I like about the order form is for some fruits/veggies/meat it lists if the food is organic, local, local and organic, hormone-free, etc. A lot of their meat is local which I like and some stuff is listed as grass-fed, local, hormone-free, etc. It also lists if the food comes from VA, PA, MD, KS, etc. Some things I do avoid (fruit) if it's organic because I'm sure I could get a better deal on the organic fruits at a grocery store. It's worth checking out. I'm not sure if I'll stick with it when my membership runs out in June, but for now I'm quite pleased with it. Plus, since the order form is due Tuesday at midnight and the food is delivered Thurs night it helps me plan my meals each week.
This will be my third year in a CSA and I love it. Went with a half-share the first year, but ended up buying more veggies each week, so this will be year 2 with a full share. It lasts April-Nov and some weekend events have to be worked around picking up our share, but we manage and they have a flexible program. There's not too much 'exotic' food, as we're able to pick and choose what we want for the week from an assortment of produce. So little is wasted if we're not sure what to do with it, or it goes in the dogs stew. Some CSA's don't have this option and just give you a set amount of X items each week.
You could either go in with someone else on a full share, or just stick with local farmers markets. That way you can go when you want and buy what you want. I'll still keep this blog going and add recipes throughout the summer using seasonal produce - some that will get me out of comfort zone.
Emily, thanks for the link to Arganica. That type of service would probably fit my needs better than a traditional CSA. But the prices - yikes! I compared the prices on this week's "available items" list to what I'm paying at Wegmans and the difference was considerable - pretty much double, in some cases. I know, I know I should be supporting my local farmers but... I'd rather save the money for Crossfit classes :-)
Jen, what happens if you go out of town for a couple of weeks? You give it away to someone else who can pick it up for you?
I either go to Whole Foods or Trader Joe's and sometimes Safeway (2-2lb bags of baby carrots for $5 on sale for over a month...heck yeah!). From Arganica I usually just get the eggs (free range and same $ as what I get for organic cage free at TJ), mixed bell peppers, ground bison, ground pork, ground beef, kale, and brussel sprouts. I do compare meat prices w/ Whole Foods but so far I am happy with them.
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