Thursday, July 26, 2012

CSA


CSA, Community Supported Agriculture is an AMAZING invention.
I wish that someone had told me what a CSA box was years ago, since I wasn't privy to this amazing information for most of my life I am making it a point to share this fabulous idea with everyone I know. Community Supported Agriculture (or CSA) is a way for consumers to buy local, seasonal food directly from the farmers growing it.  Instead of going to the grocery store and buying food that has been shipped from who knows where, and is who knows how old, fruits and veggies (and sometimes other natural farm products) are picked and then made available to you.
It is an amazing opportunity for consumers to get fresh food and meet the people who grow it. The farmers have an opportunity to meet the people buying their products and they earn money that will help support the farm.
Our family is lucky enough to live in an area that offers multiple CSA programs. We have had the opportunity to try out some amazing programs, we tried one that delivered a box of fresh fruits and veggies to our door every other week, one that had a pick up right at the farm, and our current favorite from Feeding Crain Farms offers buyers the chance to not only get fresh fruits and veggies but custom made products such as marinara, bbq, jellies and jams, and 100% organic household cleaning products!
It is amazing, my house is always full of fresh produce! I have the ability to request more or less of different items and I know that it is totally organic, completely fresh, and it tastes great!
So here is what I want you to do:
Visit http://www.localharvest.org/csa/  look for the map of the USA that is covered in green-those are the farms that offer CSA (there are a lot of them!) type in your zip code and see what is available in your neighborhood.
Look at your grocery bill, do the math and see how much you spend on produce. Wouldn’t you rather be spending that money on FRESH produce? Yeah I think you do! Visit the websites of the CSA’s in your neighborhood and see how much they charge-I bet it is less than you are spending monthly at the store.
Sign up! Even if you only do it for a month it is a great opportunity for your family to try produce straight from the farm. Many of the CSA farms will even allow you to visit to see where your food is coming from.  We have our own garden year round so we request food that we can’t get at home, we also only do it in the spring and summer, the great thing is you can adjust your box to your family’s needs!
Last but not least, enjoy!
-Amanda

If you live in the local Sacramento area check out some of our families favorite CSA programs:

Soil Born Farms

2 comments:

  1. We did a CSA last summer and it was fun to try some new things. There aren't very many around here. This summer I beefed up my container garden and have a much better turnout for less money.

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  2. I think that is awesome! I would always recommend growing your own food over buying it, great job!!!

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