photo from Morning Song Farm
We are not “crunchy, granola” types, but my husband and I are trying different avenues in which to live healthier, less wasteful lives. One of the things we’re looking into is Community Supported Agriculture.
Here is how CSA is defined by the Local Harvest website:
A CSA, (for Community Supported Agriculture) is a way for the food buying public to create a relationship with a farm and to receive a weekly basket of produce. By making a financial commitment to a farm, people become “members” (or “shareholders,” or “subscribers”) of the CSA. Most CSA farmers prefer that members pay for the season up-front, but some farmers will accept weekly or monthly payments. Some CSAs also require that members work a small number of hours on the farm during the growing season.
CSA is less wasteful because less fuel is expended to get goods from the farm to the consumer. The downside is you will have to eat seasonally. In some locales, this limits your choices. This does not mean we are anti-grocery stores or farming conglomerates. We still plan to shop at Trader Joe’s, Fresh and Easy, and Von’s. Whenever possible, we are going to use locally grown food. I have several real-life and blog friends, who inspired us to try this. By all accounts, the fruits and vegetables acquired in these programs are much fresher and more flavorful. Since my husband cooks for a living, he’s looking forward to working with the produce we receive.
We will be purchasing our produce from a farm in Central California. They are not the type of farm that requires members to work on the farm and they allow you to buy one box at a time. I will not mention the name of this farm until after we receive our first delivery, which we receive next week. I plan to blog about our first delivery on my personal blog and here.
Here is a photo from my friend Natalie’s private blog of a delivery she received.
clockwise: red butter lettuce (3x), globe radishes, baby leeks, baby carrots, kale, almonds, raisins
For more information regarding CSA and where to find CSA farms near you, check out
For our readers who have done this or are currently doing this, do you have any tips for CSA newbies like us?
I can’t say enough about CSAs – they truly are one of the best ways folks can support their local farmers and directly participate in their local economies. Good luck, and ENJOY! My favorite part is receiving a vegetable you’d never normally buy and thinking, ‘what in the world do I do with this?’ Then it’s time to hit the cookbooks, and that’s when the fun begins!
Twitter: @amy_i
My tip is… do it! I echo what Maggie said above, it’s a great way to try something you’d never get otherwise. It’s also a build-in way to eat fresh, healthy, and local, which can get expensive and inconvenient.
Don’t be afraid to google for recipes or even basic preparation if you are stuck with something you’re not familiar cooking… some of my favorite meals were the “basic” way to cook a veggie rather than making a big deal out of every single item. Two words: roasted cauliflower. Mmmm… ALSO – try making huge batches of stuff and then freezing or canning if you find yourself with more than you can eat. I still have roasted butternut squash in my freezer from last October that’s perfect for a quick & easy soup.