Monday, August 31, 2009

Support A Farmer

So I went ahead and joined a CSA last week. A CSA you ask? Yes, Community Supported Agriculture. Basically, it’s a food subscription. You pay a local farmer up front by the quarter or year and in return you are given a box of produce each week. I split my membership with a friend since I knew my family of three wouldn’t be able to eat a whole box each week.

There are a lot of farmers starting with CSA’s in our community. We chose ours because he has been a successful farmer for many years, so we are familiar with the quality of this goods and we know he’ll be around (hopefully) for many more years. We also choose our farmer because he all of his produce is organic. Not just, no spray. Not just natural or all those other euphemisms but organic.

Our membership cost $1000 a year. Ouch, you might be thinking, but in reality since I split it my half was $500. I know that’s still a lot of money, but weekly that comes to $9.62 a week. That’s less than $10 a week for fresh organic produce that is picked within 15 miles of my house. Produce that is picked the same day as my pick up. You really can’t beat that.

I picked up our first box last Thursday and look at what we got.

2 cantaloupe
4 avocados
1 bag of green beans
1 bag of spinach
1 bag of lettuce greens
1 onion
5 tomatoes
1 pint of strawberries
3 squash
4 peppers


I took half of that which I think is a pretty good deal for $9.62.

I better start eating more of it cuz I got another box coming in just a few more days.

12 comments:

Aleta said...

Woah! Look at all those lovely produce. What a cool idea to go straight to the farmer for it, rather than the grocery store. I'd rather support the farmer. Is there a site you can go to in order to find a local one?

Diane, Fit to the Finish said...

That is a good deal! After all, sometimes cantaloupes are 2 or 3 bucks each!

Shelley said...

Very nice! Glad you are thinking of the support the farmer gets as well as the superfresh produce. Everyone benefits!

Tina said...

Sounds like a good deal to me! I spend at least $20 a week on fruit and veggies!

Hanlie said...

Looks great! That would last me and Craig about two days...

Angie Eats Peace said...

This is awesome and sounds like a good deal. I will have to look into one.

Cammy@TippyToeDiet said...

Sounds like a frugal move to me for fruits and veggies that fresh.

SeaShore said...

It's a great deal for direct from the farm, fresh, organic produce!

H.K. said...

Those produce look yummy! What's so great about getting the produce every week, it makes you try to eat what you have for the week, so it doesn't go to waste. I'll look into getting my produce from a farmer, great idea!

Miss reading your blog!

Anonymous said...

Holy smokes, that's awesome!! I think I spend $10 on two boxes of raspberries and a cantalope alone!

Sara said...

I can barely see the comment box as I type this because I spent the last 30 seconds licking the screen...

What a great idea, enjoy your delicious produce!

100in12 said...

Great picture! I always find these kind of pictures inspiring because they are colorful and attractive and inviting. Well done!

I'm looking into subscribing to one of these too! It's so good for you, good for your community, and you get to expand your cooking/recipe repertoire. Love it!