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We've all heard about CSAs - Community-Supported Agriculture - and many of us have participated in CSA programs in our towns. Essentially, you fork over some cash (usually from $500 to $800), and each month, you get a bounty of whatever fruits and veggies are in season, courtesy of a locally-owned farm. For some people, the boxes of produce are as close to they get to the farm, though they can feel secure in knowing that they're supporting their local farmers and not supporting grocery store-sold produce. Other CSA participants go a step further and purchase a small piece of the actual farm, which they visit and keep up themselves.
My question: why is the New York Times just now learning about this? A recent article on CSAs calls it "a loose but growing network," making it sound as if they just stumbled upon the movement yesterday. Really? I have friends who have been participating in these programs for years. Perhaps it's just new in more rural areas?
In the meantime, I will continue to enjoy locally-grown veggies, and go back to my love/hate relationship with the Times.
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7-10-2008 @7:52PM AJ said... Well, it all boils down to commonality. While CSAs have been around for years, I wonder what % of NYT readers actually participate in...or even just know about CSAs. CSA participants like you or I may have known about them some time...but I'd venture to say that there are huge numbers of people who have yet to learn about them.
As a parallel example, right here on Slashfood, there's a post about "molecular mixology" and creating liquid spheres. The technique has been around since 2003...and in some culinary circles is considered "over." Yet, the post clearly looks at the subject with new eyes.
In the end, it's all a question of just how many people have a working knowledge of it. Perhaps when there are CSA signups at the local Wal-Mart, the Times won't be writing as enthusiatically....
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7-10-2008 @9:16PM RJ said... My husband and I wanted to participate in a CSA this year...but were too worried about potentially throwing away too much of the produce. Any thoughts on that??
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7-10-2008 @9:55PM Big John said... So what? A major publication is taking a first-look (for that publication) at a great movement. This is the first I've heard of CSAs, so please don't assume that your readers have heard of every foodie item ever mentioned or created. Just because the internet knows, doesn't mean the entire world knows.
Thanks for the link, I'll check out the Times story.
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7-10-2008 @9:19PM mike said... > Essentially, you fork over some cash (usually from $500 to $800), and each month, you get a bounty of whatever fruits and
You might want to clarify that $500-$800 is for the entire year/season.
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7-10-2008 @9:19PM Ellen Slattery said... RJ, I'd recommend looking for another couple, family members, or neighbors who would be willing to go in on the deal. I know couples who have had the same problem - they wind up with too much food, and feel guilty throwing it out.
You could always put an ad on Craigslist, asking for offers, or put an ad up at shops around town.
Or, perhaps you could arrange an agreement with a local food pantry or soup kitchen, to donate food you don't use.
Also, look around - some farms offer "half shares," for couples just like you.
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7-10-2008 @9:25PM Allison said... RJ: Just like all the extra zucchini in your garden -- bless the opportunity to share the wealth with others. Our CSA in Colorado plants with the thought in mind that each week's share will serve two adults amply, and unless you have a ravenous vegetarian teenager, will stretch to feed a couple of children as well. Of course, part of being in a CSA community is that you share the joy of abundance when there's a surplus crop, as well as the pain of not enough when the weather or other disasters hit.
I'll bet you find lots of ways to enjoy new as well as familiar crops. Or to can or freeze or turn into lacto-fermented veggies to enjoy during the winter. And, if it seems like there's way too much one week and you have no one else to share with, we put anything we don't particularly like (turnips, in my case) or think there's just too much of and will go bad too soon, in an "extras box" at our pickup site that then is taken to a charity or food bank by one of our members.
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7-11-2008 @11:48AM Baron said... Up to 800 dollars? Time to move to the country, well away from the city and buy some land. :)
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7-11-2008 @11:48AM Peter said... Can anyone explain to me why CSAs are so wonderful? Maybe it's the type of CSA, but it seems that joining a CSA means that you lack the freedom of choice as you are "assigned" produce whether you want it or not, whether or not it's the quality/size/type/ripeness you want, etc. and then you feel obligated to not go elsewhere.
For example, what if you get a load of produce you do not like? Or it's not the produce you would have hand chosen from all the produce displayed and it arrives bruised, mashed, etc.? Or what if you are planning a recipe with a specific fruit or vegetable in mind, but you do not get it that week, or do not get enough of it, and then you have to buy it separately? Do you toss out the produce you do not want, try to pawn it off on neighbors, or does it simply go bad because you do not use it and then you toss it out? Maybe it's the type of CSA, but do CSAs really have everything you could ever want such as fruits or vegetables that you cannot obtain locally (ie: tropical fruits)?
I think a true chef and cook would consider all of the above before joining a CSA as you are dealing with a great unknown before financially committing to something that you may not like or want.
Sure, going by the numbers, $800/yr breaks down to $67/month which sounds good, but if you have to supplement that with what you want/need throughout the year, does a CSA really save money and resources in the long run?
While I have a small garden, I go to my local farm that has all the produce I could ever want and they even takes suggestions on what I want them to try to grow, so I always get exactly what I want, when I want it and more. I spend anywhere from $5-40 per week and get exactly what I want.
I think CSAs are based on good intention, but they just do not seem practical and to me, it makes more sense to just directly support your local farm, or farm market, by purchasing exactly what you want, when you want it.
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7-11-2008 @12:54PM AJ said... Peter, the constriction and limits, for me are part of the appeal. It forces your cooking to both conform to what's in season, and occasionally to learn to cook with unfamiliar ingredients. Just as you described going to the farm and buying what you want, typically you can make suggestions or at least state your preferences.
In the end, our acclimation to going to the grocery and getting "whatever we want" ultimately limits people's cooking...we get used to having the same things at all times of the year, regardless of flavor.
A CSA program that sends you damaged veg is destined to fail...but as far as I've seen, they generally make the effort to send the best of the current pick.
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7-11-2008 @2:52PM Peter said... AJ - Thanks for the reply and like I said, I think the intent of a CSA is well and good. But it's the "constrictions and limits" that makes me even less inclined to join a CSA and reinforces my own feelings about it. I guess I am more into "Consumer Supported Agriculture".
BTW, I am blessed with a great variety of local agriculture including a raw milk and cheese farm not more than two miles from my house, so perhaps I am a bit spoiled. :)
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7-11-2008 @10:37PM BS said... I do not participate in a CSA myself because I have a 15' x 45' garden in my back yard but I know a lot of my friends do. Compared to my garden the CSA is a lot less work, not much more expense per year, and the CSA gives my friends a way wider variety of produce each week. In a good year, when I have time to get the garden planted when I should, and when I have time to plant the full variety of things I use, it is comparable. In a normal year, I just have to face it that I'm not a full-time farmer and I won't have that kind of consistency of yield or variety.
Another thing to consider is that the majority of people aren't as into food as those who read this blog and they welcome the variety of produce they get because it helps them to eat better and be more creative in the kitchen then they would normally.
I agree that if you are coming up with your menu based on what you want and not what you have, you probably should continue to buy your produce from local farms or farmer's markets.
Another note: in my area (SE Minnesota), whole season shares are usually around $1000 but most farms offer half-shares as well as shares for just part of the year (spring greens, summer veg, fall veg, etc.)
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7-17-2008 @4:17PM tbt5b said... I live in Boston and I signed up for my first CSA share this summer. I ordered a half-share and am splitting it with a girl I work with, so it cost us both $150 over the course of a 16 week season. That's less than $10/week for a wide array of fruits and veggies. So far this summer we've gotten a head of multiple varieties of lettuce and a bunch of arugula each week (can't go wrong with lettuce greens!) plus mesculin greens, strawberries and blueberries, beets and turnips, swiss chard and kale, zucchini and summer squash and a cucumber. The farm I participate with (Stillman's) has a stand pick-up system where the fruits and veggies are out on display, similar to what you'd find at a farmers market, so the only thing not left up to us to control is the content of the weekly "box."
The overall program is great for someone like me who lives in a big city and doesn't have the means to get out to a farm for local produce and works during the farmers markets. I'd much rather be spending $10/week on local fruits and veggies and supporting a farm even if I don't use them all in a week than I would at the local supermarket or worse the neighborhood Starbucks. For me, it's money well spent!!
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