Why to Join a CSA and Criteria to Look For
March 17, 2009
photo credit: thebittenword.com
Towards the end of stay in Argentina I kept thinking about how I wasn’t ready to have to leave my life in South America behind. I felt so different there–more free, more exhilarated, and just more alive in general. I promised myself that I would find things that made me happy here as well and do them. I made a list of resolutions earlier this year and have created a page for them with a link in the header so I can keep track of them, but also with the hope that you all will hold me accountable. There’s also a link to a page where I have incorporated the feed from my 43 Things account. While my resolutions are things I want to have done by the end of this year, 43 Things is a list of things that I’d like to do in my lifetime–more long-term, but not something to sit idly by.
One of those 43 things is #14: eat more locally grown food. Food in South America is absolutely delicious and I don’t know anyone who would contest that. The Israelis I met while backpacking scoffed at me when I talked about how much more flavor everything has in South America… apparently food in Israel is even better. There is one main reason for this: it’s fresher. Food that has been picked weeks before it is ripe, packed up, and shipped thousands of miles to reach its destination before it even gets to your grocery store is not only bad for the environment and bad for your local economy, it’s not nice to your taste buds. I have started to take a real interest in cooking and increasing my culinary knowledge, and part of that is becoming more familiar with local, seasonal produce. Short of growing my own mini-vegetable garden, which I cannot do due to time and space limitations, what better way to do eat more locally grown food than by joining a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture)? CSAs are not a new idea, but with the current economic situation and the growing green living movement, they are a growing phenomenon. Essentially, when you join a CSA you pay for a share or half-share of food every week from a local farm that is delivered to your home or a local pickup area. Oftentimes you do not know until that week–or even that day–what produce will be arriving in your basket so it’s a chance to learn new recipes and become acquainted with food you may never have heard of before.
After doing a little bit of research I found a CSA that works best for me and now I want to help you find one in your area so we can all lead greener lives and support our local farmers and economy. Since every CSA is different, here are a few things to keep in mind to find a CSA that is right for you:
1) Annual fee. Most CSA’s have an annual fee. It varies from farm to farm, but this fee helps to cover cost of delivery, packaging (which is minimal), and any other associated costs. I like to keep my overhead low, so the CSA I opted to go with for right now charges a $25 annual fee which renews every year, but most others I have seen charge around $100.
2) Pay upfront for entire season. It seems to be the consensus with most CSAs that you pay a couple hundred dollars for an entire season (ie: $450 for April-August), but some require you to pay for the entire year before receiving any produce. If you opt to go the route of paying for long seasons for even the entire year upfront, I would email or call to see if you could get a list of produce for previous years to see what you can expect. It might also be worth it to drive up the farm and get an idea of the quality of food you will be getting as well. As one who likes to travel and live a fairly “unstable” life, I couldn’t commit to an entire year, so I found one that allows me to pay by the week.
3) Work requirement. Some CSAs require that you spend a few hours each month or year helping out on the farm. This is likely the case with smaller farms that are grown in eco-villages or intentional communities, with larger farms it is generally not expected, though volunteers are almost always welcome!
4) Amount of deliveries. Make sure you read the wording carefully about how many deliveries you get for your money. It seems that most CSAs do weekly deliveries, but some only do biweekly so it is important to be aware of this so you know how much grocery shopping you will have to do to substitute for lack of deliveries on certain weeks.
5) Size of deliveries. This is something to really pay attention to. I live with a roommate but only have to cook for and feed myself, so the amount of food I need delivered is significantly less than one who has 4 mouths to feed. Most CSAs have an option between a full-share and a half-share. Find out how much you will be receiving each week. This follows from the previous tip, but if you get a biweekly delivery, it is important to note how much food you will be receiving and whether or not you’ll be able to eat it all. CSA deliveries do not contain preservatives and it would be a shame to have to throw out perfectly good food because you couldn’t eat it all in time!
6) Location. This was last on my list of priorities when picking the right CSA for me, if only because right now most of the fruit I pick up at the Dekalb Farmer’s Market is from Chile and most of the vegetables are from Mexico and I figured any CSA that delivers to the metro-Atlanta area is closer than that! To you, however, this factor may be more important. I had a choice of about 10 CSAs that deliver to the metro-Atlanta area, some much closer than others.
To find a CSA near you, check out LocalHarvest.org. In addition to joining a CSA, I have also signed the pledge for the 100-Mile Diet, and though my CSA is in Alabama, I was pleased to see that it is within the 100 mile radius. To find out more about the impact of local eating visit the 100-Mile Diet and check out their article on why you should eat local. Finally, for more information about a similar idea, check out Slow Food USA.
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