Now is the time to sign up for a CSA, which stands for Community Supported Agriculture.
What Join a CSA and you rise from passive grocery store consumer to farm member and supporter. Every week you get a great box of produce (or meat) at amazingly reasonable prices. Super fresh and super tasty.
Why By the single step of joining a CSA you do all this:
- get the best-tasting produce
- at the most reasonable prices
- that does the best job of supporting your and your family’s good health
- while supporting sustainable growing practices
- which protects the environment and preserves farmland
- supports local farmers and local economy
- and builds a stronger community. What else can you do that is so beneficial?!!
Also be sure to see the previous post on the importance of clean meat–the kind you get direct from a farmer
When CSAs deliver produce weekly, as it’s grown, so in Colorado that’s generally June through October.
Where CSAs usually deliver to nearby towns and cities; it’s nice to find one that delivers to a fairly close location.
How Much Pricing varies, depending upon farm and size. Regardless, in my experience, the per pound price of produce was always very reasonable. See the listing below for exact pricing. And remember to start small. There’s always next year to buy a bigger share as you get accustomed to this new way of “shopping.”
CSA Listing
The Daily Camera just printed a convenient list of CSAs that deliver in the Boulder area
Here is another good online source (but note that Grant Family Farms is no longer in business.)
CSA Fair Come Meet the Farmers!
Saturday March 15, 9:00am – Noon at Impact Hub Boulder, 1877 Broadway, Suite 100
Co-hosted by Local Food Shift and Boulder County Farmers’ Markets. Connects people face-to-face with farmers, discovering all the ways to directly support them, learn about food production and enjoy local food–and join a CSA! RSVP here.
“Think Ahead” That’s the key to reaping the benefits of a CSA. Remember we live in an instant food culture. Anytime you get hungry, somebody has something to fill you up. But you get what you pay for. Little effort = little value. Sadly we see the consequences of little effort all around us.
Why not try a new paradigm: Think ahead. You will be hungry this summer and autumn, just like you are every day. That won’t change. What can change is thinking ahead now and ordering a CSA. Each week, you’ll have a magnificent box of produce and clean meat. Then, when you’re hungry, you’ll fill yourself up with real food that nourishes and nurtures, i.e., what you really want to be eating.
Full Disclosure CSAs offer great benefits, but as a member-supporter of the farm, you also get to intimately know and share some of the risks of farming. In this way, you get very connected to the world outside our homes and offices where real food is produced.
Our farmers work tremendously hard and are so ingenious, but there are a lot of factors outside their control (e.g., floods, drought, shearing hailstorms, to name just a few from the last couple years.) The fees paid by as a CSA member give farmers a cushion of security in this very risky environment.
Most often, those fees are repaid tenfold in the health-giving, delicious produce members receive. But now and then, members take a hit alongside their farmers (albeit it a much, much smaller hit!) Last year, for instance, our farm suffered a freak hailstorm in July. In one hour, half of their crops were destroyed. Talk about a force of nature! But even though our shares were smaller, they were still very adequate, and I never felt “deprived.”
Members also help farmers by accepting and using up the less-than-perfect produce that is part and parcel of every harvest. I was dismayed when the produce from my first CSA wasn’t nearly as nice as what my farmer sold at the Market. Think about it, though: for every perfect 7″ carrot, there are several 4-6″ carrots which taste just as good. They may take a little more work, but by accepting them, they don’t go to waste and our farmer is further supported.
Finally, there is the dreaded, “What if I get 10 turnips” fear. First, come to our healthy meal making classes with The New Kitchen Cooking School. We learn systems for cooking a vegetable in multiple ways so you never feel over-dosed. This summer we have three sessions all revolving around the summer vegetables you might receive in a CSA box. Second, a CSA box always has plenty of variety to offset any vegetable you receive in plentitude.
Read more from Dan Moore’s volunteer website about why and how to join a CSA
Happy eating!