In an effort to live green and eat healthfully, I invested in a local farm. With my year-long Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) membership, I paid a farm a lump sum at the beginning of the growing season and then got regular shares of the farm’s bounty.
My membership taught me how much work it takes to get food out of the ground. I tasted vegetables I had never tried before, such as pak choi and Chinese red noodle beans.
It was an adventure, but I didn’t renew my membership. Sadly, it doesn’t fit into our family’s budget this year. Still, I think everyone who can join a CSA should consider doing so, even if it’s only for a year. When you add up the plusses and the minuses, you’ll probably come out way ahead, like I did.
Pros of My CSA
Learn what grows in your soil.
I’ve lived in Georgia for fifteen years. Yet, until I met Farmer Neil at TaylOrganic Farms, I didn’t know what foods grew here. It turns out we grow asparagus and strawberries in the spring, greens galore, pretty much anything you would want in the summer as long as we get a little rain, and greens, greens, and more greens in the fall and winter.
Live green.
It’s nice to take tote bags to the grocery store, but as green habits go, eating locally grown produce packs a bigger punch. You save on the fuel used to transport food from around the world, you support your local economy, you eat healthier, often better tasting food, and depending on your farmer’s practices, you avoid pesticides and other chemicals.
Have fun in the kitchen.
Some CSAs include recipes in your box so you know what to do with unusual vegetables. A fellow subscriber to my CSA runs a blog that offers recipes and hints for preparing produce. I made green onion crepes stuffed with greens and other yummy dishes. It was fun figuring out what to do with foods I had never heard of and it forced me to do more real cooking.
