Why I Love My CSA

If you’re like most people, you’re saying…”what is a CSA?” It stands for Community Supported Agriculture and it’s where you buy a share of the farm and it’s crops for a season and pick up weekly produce based on what is ripe.

I’ve been in my present CSA, Winter Green Farm, for five years now. What I like about them is they are organic, shares are abundant and fresh, they have a 19-week regular season plus an optional 5-week fall season and I can walk to the Hollywood Farmers Market to pick up my share. You can look for Farmers Markets and CSAs near you at Local Harvest’s website.

Sample of one-week share

Why I love having a CSA:

• I pay $565 for 19 weeks of amazing produce. That’s $29 a week!
• The produce is fresher than a grocery store. They usually pick it the day prior, so the only thing fresher is your own garden.
• Because it’s so fresh, it tastes amazing and it lasts longer!
• It helps me eat healthy whole foods. I use my CSA as the base for meals that week.
• Eating healthy keeps me more healthy. While much of nutrition may be controversial, eating more whole organic plants filled with phytonutrients and a rainbow of colors is absolutely good for your health!
• I don’t have to shop or make the selections, the farmer does that for me, based on what’s ripe. This saves me time!
• I LOVE surprises, so it’s kind of like getting a gift each week!
• I get more food diversity than I would get if I was doing the shopping. I sometimes have to figure out what an item is, but they are super nice at sending us a produce list and recipes each week.
• There are no plastic stickers on my produce and almost no packaging, making this a kinder choice for our earth.
• I support my local farmers. Farmers deserve our love and our dollars. It’s not an easy job, yet it’s so vital to our health and well-being!
• Eating local also means fewer resources are needed to bring the food to me.
• I get in touch with the growing seasons as I watch foods come from the farm to my table.

I have a lot of fun making new combinations based on what I get that week

Health begins in the kitchen. ~ Kathy Peterman

My version of Noodle-Free Pad Thai by Minimalist Baker

Other cool things to know:

• Minimalist Baker’s recipes are seasonal and have helped me find creative ways to use some of the produce I receive. It helps that the blogs author, Dana, and her photographer husband, John, live in Portland.
• Imperfect Produce is now offering fruits and veggies delivered to your door for 30-50% off in select cities. Any yes, Portland is one of those cities! It’s my next thing to try out.
• Just Eat It is a wonderful 70-minute documentary about food waste in our country. It’s a film everyone should see. It’s on Amazon Prime.
• Zero-Waste Chef offers lots of ideas for fun ways to have less waste in our kitchens.

One of my Mandala Salads inspired by my CSA

I firmly believe that health begins in the kitchen and that we each can use more fruits and veggies on our plates. Check out a CSA to see if it might be of value to you. That’s a lot of things I love and my only complaint is that it sometimes is too much food for one person. When that happens, I share some with family or friends. Guess that’s not all bad!

Who here has tried a CSA? And how did that go? I’d love to hear from others who enjoy the pleasures of healthy produce boxes. Please comment below.