Do you know where your food comes from?  How it was grown, harvested, packaged and transported to get to your local grocery store?

Today’s industrial production of food is creating all sorts of problems.  Our food is loaded with chemical fertilizers and pesticides.  It goes from the farm to a wholesaler and then to a distributor before it gets to your neighborhood store.

What about “locally grown” food you see at your specialty market? Even if it was picked from a farm within a hundred miles or so of your house, it was likely sent to a distribution center a few states away before being sent back to your local store.  Think of the fuel used in all of that transportation!

To get the produce to market without rotting through all those steps, it is picked well before it is ripe.  It is then sold to you either unripe (have you ever had the urge to make guacamole but all the avocados at the store were rock hard?) or the ripening process is artificially accelerated by blasting your food with ethylene gas.

Your fruits and vegetables haven’t had a chance to develop the nutrition and flavor you want and need.  Plus, you are ingesting all sorts of chemical toxins that you DO NOT need.

Can you imagine getting a box of organically grown produce from a local farmer that was picked just one or two days ago?  Now, THAT is FRESH!  You get food that is bursting with flavor and packed with great nutrients.

If you’ve ever tasted a tomato picked right from the vine at the peak of the season, you know what I’m talking about.

So what do we do?

One answer is in Community Supported Agriculture or CSA.

A CSA allows for local distribution of food.  This system goes back thousands of years.  It wasn’t that long ago, in the days of the Milkman, people often received deliveries of food from the local farmer.

What is a CSA?

Community Supported Agriculture is basically subscription farming.  You purchase a share with a single farm or a group of farms.  Just like a magazine subscription, you receive a “share” of fresh, locally grown produce every week.  Your subscription is managed by a group usually composed of volunteers – the CSA.

While distribution methods vary, typically with a CSA, the farmer delivers his weekly harvest and volunteer members of the CSA uncrate and sort it out.  Members show up at the appointed time to gather their weekly allotment.  Other members volunteer to clean up after everyone picks up and donate whatever remains to a local charity.

Starting or joining a CSA provides some great advantages.  You get to…

• Eat really fresh organically grown food packed with great flavor and nutrition
• Learn about new foods that you might not have purchased at the store
• Help your local farmer by purchasing a portion of his crop in advance
• Reduce the carbon footprint of your food consumption
• Visit the farm and learn about agriculture – fun and educational for the kids!
• Meet other great people who share your love of food and the environment

A CSA does require some minor changes in your eating habits.  By eating locally and seasonally, you will not get everything all the time.  Tomatoes just don’t grow year round.  They come in mid to late summer.  You’ll have to supplement by purchasing onions or potatoes, or even a tomato or two during the off season.  But in addition to receiving great produce, you’ll get introduced to new foods and an education on when they’re available and how to prepare them.

Getting your produce through a CSA is a great way to improve your nutrition, help the environment and contribute to your local economy.  If you are interested in starting your own CSA or joining one already in operation, there are plenty of resources online.  A great place to start is Local Harvest.

Enjoy!