It’s that time of year again. Every Wednesday evening from now until December, I’ll hear my doorbell ring and find a box of locally grown, organic vegetables and/or fruit waiting for me.
Just like a vegetable fairy.
This is my second season being a member of a Community Supported Agriculture, or CSA. With a CSA, you are buying a share of a farm’s produce. Every CSA is different, but in general this means that you will get a portion of what the farm grows and harvests each week. With my CSA, the produce gets delivered right to my doorstep.
I have loved being a part of a CSA, but like anything, there are pros and cons. I’d like to share the best and the worst of being a member of a CSA for anyone out there on the fence about joining one.
Keep in mind, my experience is limited to one particular CSA, and every farm will have theirs set up a little differently. One feature that my farm includes that many CSA’s do not is a partnership with wholesalers. So our weekly box includes vegetables and/or fruits from their farm and then is supplemented with organic produce from trusted wholesalers. In the summer months it is mostly all home-grown produce, but early in the season there is more from the wholesalers as they only have a few things that grow this time of year.
This makes my CSA a great value as I can always count on a full box and the price is reasonable. (We pay $20 a week for a good sized box of organic produce–the picture you see above is just the greens from a week, not everything that was included that week) You have to investigate the CSA’s in your area and see what kind of features are available.
Since I’d like to end on a good note, I’ll start with the cons. Even though there are cons, I think the pros outweigh them by a long shot.
The Cons of Joining a CSA
- There are forces outside of your control that could damage crops and therefor your share–weather, pests, etc. This is the risk you take in joining a CSA.
- You may get a large quantity of a type of produce that you don’t care for.
- You may get a large quantity of a type of produce that you like, but don’t have enough uses for to use up quickly.
- It may be difficult to use up all of the produce before it goes bad, depending on the produce intake of your family.
The Pros of Joining a CSA
- You are supporting small, local farming.
- You have access to the freshest, most local produce available, which is the most nutritious way to eat.
- You can eat seasonally, again, the most nutritious way to eat.
- You are forced to get creative with preparing fresh fruits and vegetables in order to eat up all the goodness in your share.
- You can learn about new fruits and vegetables you’d never heard of before, like kohlrabi.
- You will likely eat more fresh fruits and vegetables than you normally would.
- You can teach your children about fresh, real food. (We brought Meghan to the farm where we get our produce last summer)
- It’s wonderful for a busy mom having the box delivered right to my door. (Not all CSA’s do this)
- Fresh, seasonal produce tastes so much better than produce that’s traveled across the country to make it to your house.
- For us, it is a great value. Again, every CSA is different.
If you are interested in finding a CSA in your area, this Local Harvest website has the largest database of farms offering CSA’s. Type in your zip code and find out what’s available in your area. You’ll be happy you did!
Question: Are you or have you ever been a part of a CSA? If yes, would you add anything to my pros and cons list? If no, is it something you would consider?
I believe there are some really good sources for planning that help with saving food properly so that it doesn’t go bad. I’ve heard of some parents buying produce in bulk (because it’s cheaper) then portioning and freezing a lot of it for use later.
I’ll have to do some research on this to create a resource for people who have this problem. I don’t like the idea of this getting in the way of people saving money, local farms, and the environment at their own delight.
We have been members of a CSA for 3 years, this will be our 4th. The first year was awful…there was a drought and we basically only got corn and a couple tomatoes. The second year we switched to a new farm and it has been awesome ever since. They grow an amazing variety of fruits and veggies, plus they offer extensions that we always participate in so that we usually get fresh local produce up until Christmas! I was amazed to find out how many things still grow here in MD into December. It is always nice once we get through all the CSA veggies in December to be able to go to the store and pick out exactly what *I* feel like preparing vs. having to make whatever we get, but I still enjoy it.
And I noticed in your next post that you have a recipe for green soup…I’ve found a nice flexible green soup recipe is key for using up leftover CSA greens!
We got lucky with finding this farm on our first try. I’ve been really happy. And yes, having a green soup recipe is essential!
I’m interesting in joining one but worried about the produce going bad.
It can be hard…sometimes I have to force myself to eat it all up. Which is probably a good thing, actually.
We joined one 2 summers ago that we picked up at a local Outpost Foods, and we had just about every “Con” happen to us – we always ended up with a ton of weird greens that we never liked, plus they always seemed to make up the bulk of our packages so we ended up wasting more than we ate. Granted we were able to compost what we didn’t use, but that’s a pretty expensive way to compost. 😉 We haven’t joined one since, just because we realized we don’t consume nearly enough produce at that pace to warrant another share, but we have started growing a few more veggies in our own backyard garden. We have been interested in the meat CSAs too (we live in WI, so there are a lot of beef/pork/chicken CSAs around us), but we haven’t taken the more expensive plunge on one of those yet.
That is a FANTASTIC amount of food for $20 if that’s just the greens! I am a weekly farmer’s market visitor, and love all the idea of the CSA (and would kind of enjoy getting unpredictable fruits and veggies just based on what’s fresh and in season and thus most delicious). The thing is, I think I’d miss interacting with my farmer buddies…
Yes, we are really lucky. We get a very full box of produce. And I actually forgot that I got a $2 a week discount this year for signing up early last year, so it’s only $18 a week!
We’re part of a CSA and love it! This will be our second season, also. They are completely organic and will have organic, local strawberries in about two weeks. We go pick as many as we possibly can and freeze what we cannot use up right away. I then use them for smoothies, muffins, strawberry-banana ice cream, etc. Unfortunately, my produce doesn’t get delivered to me, though. I wish it did. I have to go to our local famer’s market and pick it up. I don’t mind, though, since we’re usually at the market anyway. We’ve never been disappointed in our produce from them and it’s been a good experience. In fact, this year we upped the amount of money we put in because we used up our amount way too fast last year.
Our strawberry season is later, but that might be my favorite part of the CSA! 🙂
I love the idea of a CSA, I think it’s a great way to support local farmers and eat organically. I haven’t explored one in my area but I think I might look into it soon. It makes so much sense to me.
You definitely should!
There are organizations like this that you can join in Alaska, but it’s really expensive. Also, I’d be worried that I wouldn’t use up the produce fast enough with just my husband and me (and he’s not even here right now). Maybe someday when we live somewhere more practical!
It’s definitely worth looking into when you live somewhere else!
I totally wish I had a CSA around my area- I would take part in it. I grow my own garden instead, it was the perfect way for me to spend my summer last year, I enjoyed the time in my garden more than I ever thought I would…. But, boy is it a bummer when the weather doesn’t work out quite right. …..My dad is a farmer, this isn’t news to me. It is such a risk every year. But, so worth the risk to eat delicious healthy food!
I can’t wait until the day when I can have my own garden! Although I’m totally clueless in that area, so I will probably end up killing all my plants!