week 1

9 July 08 re: Community Supported Agriculture

mb:

I am here to tell you all about the joys of joining community supported agriculture (or CSA).

m-c:

Oh yay! I've been waiting with bated breath to hear all about it.

mb:

This is something I've been talking about doing for years, but this year I finally got my butt in gear and did it. And oh my goodness am I glad I did.

Don't know what a CSA is? Neither did I until a friend of mine who was in the know told me all about it.

See, farmers are generally very tight on money until the season has actually begun and they are selling their produce. When you join a CSA you are giving the farmer money up front to help them in the spring and then you get your produce a little later down the line. It's a good-faith kind of thing.

I think that doing this is wonderful for many different reasons. First of all, you are supporting your local economy; no giant industrial farms do this, it's all small local farms, who really need your support. Secondly, the food you eat is generally organic and it's very widely varied, so you end up trying lots of new foods. And thirdly, it's a guaranteed produce-filled summer. It's amazing!

week 2

m-c:

So how do you get your food? How does that work?

mb:

There's a pickup point (actually, there are a whole bunch of them and you get to choose the most convenient one to you) where they have all the food set up. There's a big sign telling you what to take and you get to take a certain amount of everything.

m-c:

So, it's almost as if you were going to the supermarket, but you have no control over what you're getting.

mb:

Right. Sometimes you get to choose between two things ("take one bunch of dill or one bunch of rosemary") but for the most part it's just what's in season and plentiful that week.

m-c:

And how often is your pickup?

mb:

It's once a week, on Wednesdays. Some of my best friends live on the same street as me and so we decided to share among us. There are seven adults and so we're splitting two full shares. We end up coming home loaded with veggies on Wednesdays!

And now since Wednesday is our pickup day, we've started doing weekly dinners at my house on Wednesdays nights. Everybody shows up, we grill some meat and tofu, make tons of veggie dishes with our loot from the day, and then have something great for dessert. It's a wonderful, communal thing and it has very quickly become the best part of my week.

m-c:

That sounds lovely.

week 3

mb:

It really is, it's wonderful. Two weeks ago we had a dinner and as we were about to eat I looked down at the table and realized that every single person who was about to eat had participated in the food in one way or another. Some people brought food to share, some did prep work, some cooked, some grilled, and some set the table. There is nothing like a real meal filled with real food to bring people together as a community.

m-c:

That's always been one of my favorite things about food, as you well know, having grown up with many a supper party.

mb:

I always hoped I'd grow up to have a similar household, and now mine is the place where people gather for food and company. How wonderful is that?

Oh, and, I should also mention something else that's great about the CSA. Ours includes "pick your own" privileges. We can go out to the farm (which is about an hour and a half away) and pick some of our own fruits/veggies. Generally the "pick your own" stuff is the stuff that's very labor-intensive and fragile, so they'd prefer you did it on your own. Last weekend we went out and picked strawberries and peas. Later in the summer we get to go out again for tomatoes and beans. It's a good excuse to go see what the farm is really like, and a good way to feel like you're participating.

m-c:

I think you've talked me into it. If I can get somebody to partner up with, I think that next summer I should join a CSA.

mb:

Do it, Mom. I can guarantee that you won't be disappointed. And maybe even you will discover some new and interesting produce.

week 4

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