A beautiful day at the farmers market in Northampton Ma
As you can guess, I love vegetables, and fruit, and well anything that can be grown from the earth. For this reason, as well as many more, let’s talk about CSA’s.
A CSA or Community Supported Agriculture is a concept where a community and the local farmers support one another! Simply put, before the beginning of the season, you purchase a share of the crops on a weekly or biweekly basis, indicating how many people it is for. Then, you either pick up (or some farms may deliver) your share of fruits and vegetables.
In some areas, these CSA’s may work with other local businesses, like apiaries or coffee roasters, or egg farmers, so those goods can be a part of it as well. Purchasing CSA shares is great for many reasons.
- You are supporting the local community and farmers.
- You get the chance to try some fruits and vegetables you may never have even known about.
- And it gives you a great chance to try out new recipes :).
- You are really eating in season, which helps reduce the impact on the environment by not placing so much emphasis on purchasing items that have to be shipped in from all over.
- I find that this has also saved me money and is fresher than what I would purchase from the grocery store.
- It is just so fun and feels so good to relate with your food, where it comes from and the people who worked to grow it for you!
Just do a quick search for CSA’s in your area and check out their websites. If you find that sign-up time is over, find out where their local stands are and support them that way (and see if you can be on the waitlist for the next season). Every region is different, and I found, when I lived in Connecticut, you could sign up for CSA shares for the summer or the fall or both!
For now, Be Well, Eat Well, and Savor~
Recent Comments