Community Supported Agriculture

Community Supported Agriculture, or CSA's, are local farms that produce food for members that pay for a share of the farm products. The farms can offer anything from just straight vegetables to fruit, cheese, meat, soaps, or anything in between. Shares are picked up at set locations, or at the farms themselves, on a weekly, semi-weekly or monthly basis.

I've talked of my CSA so much I often get questions about what it is and how to find one. I'll provide a couple of great links below to resources or farms themselves, but first I'd like to address the most common questions.

How much food do you get? It depends. I choose an every other week share and I get 2 pretty hefty boxfulls a month. You can pick every week, or you can also share a weekly with another person or family. I have a family of 5 and find that we can either eat or freeze what we get with no problem and usually don't have to stop at the store in between.

What kinds of food do you get? The food is seasonal based upon what is growing or being harvested at that time. If you are not familiar with what is in season, the Minnesota Grown website has a produce availability calendar that can tell you. If you like many types of food, or you are open and willing to try different things, you will probably enjoy the variety in the CSA. I know mine also offers many recipes to coincide with the food so I know how to cook it. I've been pleasantly surprised to try new things (I still rave about the baby white turnips with greens, bacon and balsamic viniagrette!)

What is the biggest difference between a CSA and what you get at the grocery store?
Namely, variety. The grocery store will ship in food from around the world to provide things that the majority of people want - your basic foods like iceberg lettuce, cucumbers and apples - year round. The CSA will give you what is available in your climate at the specific time of year it is available. The upside is there is way more variety. Things you probably never knew existed. Hong Tsai Tai, Rainbow Chard, sweet baby Peppers, Fennel, Beauty Heart Radishes. We even got baby dwarf cantaloupes that tasted somewhat like oranges.

I have to say that last year I ate way more vegetables - both in volume and in variety - than I ever had before. My kids tried new things and learned they liked them (spinach!). I didn't analyze it but I believe my grocery bill stayed the same. I just stopped buying vegetables (and fruits and cheese) from the grocery store and got them from the CSA instead. The other upside is that I knew I had fresh, organic, quality food with flavor that we've all been missing.

So, what are you waiting for? Here are some great links to get you started.

Minnesota Grown Website (in addition to the seasonal calendar has links to CSA's)
Local Harvest (nationwide directory of CSA's)
Harmony Valley Farms (the CSA I use)

Go loco, er, local

So far I've written a lot about food (one of my favorite topics as many of you know) but I want to include other items as well, such as clothing, household products, really anything that you might spend money on.
The best place to start is local stores. Back in the day (which day? I'm not totally sure) all stores were locally owned. No big box chain MegaMart with $1 items made in China. Now I do realize these stores do have some positive aspects. I'd just like there to be a happy medium.
I live in a relatively small town, about 25,000. We have a quaint, historic downtown area with a great history. There are stores downtown that have been in families for generations. The problem is we are becoming a "bedroom" town - one where people only go home to sleep - and they work and shop and have fun elsewhere. Most people in my town barely know we have a downtown.
Explore your town or neighborhood! You never know what fabulous gems you may find!
Here is just a taste of what I've experienced in this town over the last 7 years:

• A coffee shop that didn't take credit cards. I forgot cash one day and they owner let me come back the next day to pay - no questions asked.
• A downtown business group fundraiser with some amazing deals at their silent auction.
• Antiques stores with just about anything you could want, and then some. Last week I bought a locally hand made repurposed wool sweater for my daughter that was adorable!
• A yoga student of mine who gave me all her old canning jars and wouldn't take money for it.
• An amazing photographer that no longer charges me sitting fees because I've given or referred her so much business.
• An e-mail to save a great local restaurant.
• A bank where the employees know me by name and I don't need to show ID
• A small hardware store that often has things that Home Depot doesn't with amazing customer service.
  

This is just a sampling of what I've experienced. When you buy chain store you may appear to get consistency or better prices or more selection but I encourage you to explore the alternative. When I go to the small store that is locally owned I can often meet and deal with the owner. They can negotiate or bargain with me, they can custom order for me, they can recommend for me. When I spend money I like knowing that it goes not only to support the person working there, but also the owner and his/her family who also live in the community. And if the product also comes from my community, that is a true home run.