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Hello friends! Continuing on the theme from yesterday of sustainable food, today I am going to be talking about one of the most important food groups: fruits and vegetables.
Not all fruits and veggies are created equal; some contain pesticide residue, while others have a large carbon footprint. One thing that you can do to remedy this problem is investing in Community Supported Agriculture (CSA).
For context, CSA is a consumer-farmer partnership, where consumers pay a monthly or weekly price to get fresh fruits and veggies from farms in their area delivered to their doors. Typically this comes in the form of a box, filled with anything from potatoes to rhubarb, all exceptional in quality.
My family has had a CSA box for about a year now and I look forward to our biweekly shipment. I can notice an extremely apparent difference between CSA and store-bought produce.
As far as the environmental effect of CSA, it is beneficial for a variety of reasons. For one, CSA boxes typically contain a large assortment of different goods, encouraging farmers to expand the diversity of their crops. Greater crop diversity means increased resilience to weather or disease as well as better soil health.
In addition, CSA produce typically has a lower carbon footprint than store-bought produce. This is because buying from farms that are nearby results in lower transportation emissions. Also, CSA boxes significantly cut down on unnecessary packaging. One recyclable container filled with 20 types of veggies is much better than 20 individual plastic containers.
Perhaps most importantly, CSA helps local farmers and encourages community. In a world of large-scale commercial farming where you have no idea who grows your food, CSA ensures that you can support local business and truly know the people behind your produce.
One of the biggest reservations that people have about CSA is the cost. However, while it depends on the case, CSA can actually be less expensive than store-bought produce, especially if you are already buying organic. Of course, it really depends on where you are sourcing from and where you live.
One alternative to CSA, if you can not afford it, is growing your own food, (stay tuned for an article on that) which is probably the cheapest way to get produce.
Please keep in mind that CSA boxes are not for everyone. You need to be able to commit to eating the produce, regardless if you like it or not, or else you will be contributing to food waste. Of course, many CSAs allow you to change your subscription to longer periods between boxes if you find that you are not eating everything.
Also keep in mind that sometimes you will get extremely random food, like turnips or bok choy, so CSA boxes are not for the picky eater. However, I have found that it has encouraged my family to try new recipes and expand our palate.
Here is a link to a website recording CSAs in the Cincinnati area so that you can find the one that best fits your needs. Some CSAs even sell eggs, meat, fresh bread and a bunch of other things if that is something you are interested in.
My family gets our CSA from Fair Ridge Farms and I would highly recommend it. They also include recipes on their blog every week personalized to what is in each box to give you ideas of what to make.
Mmmm. All this talk of produce has made me hungry for some carrots, so now I am off to scrounge around my kitchen for some veggies.
Until tomorrow!
Elena