Community Sponsored Agriculture

One of the biggest changes we have made to our eating came from joining a Community Sponsored Agriculture or CSA group. These are farms that allow community members to purchase a share of their crop in advance. By purchasing a CSA share in advance, the consumer in essence becomes partners with the farmer, with the risks and rewards shared by both.

We’ve been CSA members for a couple of years now and can’t imagine going back. We get food that was literally picked that morning – talk about fresh! There is lots of research showing fresh produce has higher levels of vitamins and fresh food just tastes better. Since the food is produced locally, CSAs reduce the energy spent on transporting food as well as the emissions created by transportation. With the average item in a grocery store traveling 1,500 miles, this is a significant savings. Most CSAs use sustainable farming techniques and many are organic so there are other environmental benefits as well.

Belonging to a CSA can help your family eat healthier in a couple of ways. Here is what it has done for us:

1. We’ve increased our consumption of fruits and vegetables. Especially vegetables. We worked hard to make healthy choices before but we’ve never eaten this many vegetables on a regular basis before. Every week we get a box full of beautiful items. Some we cook, some we juice. All of it is fresh and healthy!
2. We eat a wider variety of foods. We receive items we’ve never seen in the stores. Some we recognize but a few have only been identified with the help of packing lists from the farmer. (“That is the kohlrabi so these must be pea tendrils,” is a sentence I never expected to utter.) Since nutritionists are always singing the praises of variety in one’s diet, this as a plus.
3. Our kids are more likely to try new foods. With the wider variety of produce comes opportunity to try new things. The seasonal abundance of some foods has provided us the chance to try one item many different ways. This has been especially helpful with the kids since they’ve learned that each food can taste very different depending on how it is prepared. So now they know that, while they might not like something one way, it can be delicious in another dish. What a great lesson!
4. Our kids understand that produce does not come “from the grocery store.” They know it is grown on a farm by people who work hard. We’ve been to the farm and have met the farmers. This creates a very different relationship to the food and to their consumption of it.
5. An unexpected benefit was the reduction in our trash. Since none of the food comes in packaging, there is no waste to go in the garbage!

If you are interested in finding a CSA in your area, visit Local Harvest or the Eat Well Guide.

Related posts:

1. I Want to Eat Organic Food But How Can I Afford It? January is a time for resolutions, many of which focus...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.