As you all know, I'm pretty passionate about local, sustainable foods. Chris accuses me of being a snob who will only eat "super-organic" free-range fruit. However accurate that may be, I care about how my food was produced and where it came from. I don't buy into the idea that an organic label on a sign or a package tells me everything I need to know about my food. Yes, I care about pesticides and fungicides, but I also care about the sustainability of the farming practices for the land and the farmers. I think food builds communities, not just for those who eat meals together, but also for those who grow and buy the food.
So you would think I'd have been a long-time CSA member.
Admittedly, a visit to the farmer's market is a highlight of my week, so why would I want to give that up? The dreary months when my local farmer's market is closed are sad. My idea of a hot date is to visit the Ferry Plaza on a Saturday morning. But CSA's in San Francisco? They're dismal. Most are so far removed from the real idea of a CSA that it's no different from shopping at Safeway. The produce in the boxes comes from all over the country (even world), the quality can be questionable, and the contents are not even always seasonal. I think the size of the city and the demand for produce boxes has created a market for less-than-ideal practices.
So I've always avoided joining a CSA and contented myself with shopping for my own produce.
My sister belongs to an amazing CSA. It's a small family farm that transitioned to organic practices for the health of their children. She doesn't control what comes in her box, but she is pleasantly surprised all season long to meet new produce and introduce her children to novel foods. My rules for a CSA:
- The produce should come from the farm (or their neighbor with whom they have a close relationship)
- The contents of the box should be subject to the whims of nature (if a crop fails, you can't have it!) and challenge you to diversify your family's menus
- The farm should be small and committed to the health of their land and workers
- They should include eggs and flowers for me!
- They should be within 50 miles of the city, and my check should be contributing to their financial security. I want to support farms who use the CSA to secure a customer base early in the season so they know what and how much to grow.
- And I want to visit the farm! I want my boys to grow up visiting and knowing the farmer who grows their food. Especially because we live in the city, this connection is so important to me!
And so, after many years of searching, I finally found the perfect farm: Fifth Crow Farm in Pescadero. They have been coming to my farmer's market for a couple of seasons now, and I LOVE their produce (okay, they did have me at that cute wooden sign they hang). It's amazing. The quality is unsurpassed. They grow such a diverse selection of crops, and they have eggs, flowers, and pantry items (popcorn, pancake mix, dried beans). Two of the farmers come to our market every week and they're as delightful as can be. And the eggs? You've never eaten such amazing eggs. Ever. But the best part of all? We have to pick up our box at the farmer's market. In our red wagon.
I can't wait for our first box to arrive in May!
Boo! Tirza was so excited about doing a CSA last year and picked a farm on Prescott St. in Pepperell. We loved it. One of the added benefits was being able to take Ruth to visit grandparents at the house. (Gram especially looks forward to a weekly visit).
ReplyDeleteLike you mention in your rules, our CSA produces its own stuff (except they get some fruit from the neighbors). And we really only get what they have coming in that week. (Somehow there were lots of weeks of kale(-:) We do get all sorts of surprises throughout the year. Once they're out of something, that's that! We didn't get broccoli or cauliflower because of the woodchucks this year. And, we've already paid for this year's because they want to know who's coming.
Long and short, we've been oh-so pleased with this place, even if Heather's farmer gives her twice as much stuff (especially potatoes) and a wooden box.
Did we mention OUR eggs are the most marvelous eggs ever? Oh yummy, I do love eggs!
I love my CSA! We can never eat all the food we get from it. (But that might be because I don't have 100% support from the peanut gallery at my house.) We do get a ton of produce and I love our farmer and our really cute wooden boxes. And it's in the center of Concord. We don't sign up again until March, but she already has us down for this year.
ReplyDeleteI wouldn't mind if we had an egg share. But I happen to love our local egg farm. You can meet the chickens. And the eggs are wonderful.
Oh I want to join a CSA! You'd think here in the Garden State we'd have more opportunities to do that than we do. Still doing my research...
ReplyDeleteAs a matter of fact, I DO belong to an amazing CSA! Thanks for the shout-out! BTW, ours is a year-round CSA. I like what you said about the produce being subject to the whims of nature. Every now and then in the winter, we get a note in the newsletter that the beets don't have greens on them because they froze, but the roots are good! Or the lettuce is small because the outer leaves froze, but they managed to save the middle! Or, something gets eaten by a bug, or they're trying some new thing and what do we think, or we only get a little bit of this or that in the boxes because most of it didn't survive.
ReplyDeleteAs you know, the eggs we get are no longer from our farm, but the farm down the street, because all of our CSA's chickens were eaten by wild dogs. Talk about being subject to the whims of nature!