Community Supported Agriculture

A few months ago, in my new found quest for amazing food, I really started to think about where it all comes from. How many miles has the food traveled, and more importantly, how was it made? Naturally, as I started learning about veganism, I also started learning about the way that food is grown. Reading John Robbins’ The Food Revolution really got me thinking.

I wanted to greatly limit the amount of pesticides and other potentially harmful things I put into my body, the only one I have. Additionally, as a huge proponent of limiting my carbon footprint, I thought it might be best to eat food grown locally. So I figured I would try a CSA.

Now, what is a CSA you may ask? I know I had to ask. It’s an acronym for Community Supported Agriculture. The public can buy one of a number of allotted shares from a local farm. Each week you get your share, which is typically a box of mixed vegetables. It is good for the farmers because they get a group of people to invest in their farm before the season starts. It is good for those that buy the shares because they get fresh food (think likely picked that morning) and new different foods they may not have picked up otherwise.

A dear friend and her husband have been participating in a local CSA for a few years now and she loves it. I’ve benefited a few times when they have gone on holiday and really enjoyed it! It’s fun to get random veggies and create dishes around them. She’s encouraged me for a while now to participate. Unfortunately, since I work far away from where I live and the CSA pickup that she uses, I had to find a different CSA.

Enter Bay End Farm. It’s an organic farm in Buzzards Bay, MA. We are three weeks in and have had an amazing load of veggies! The amount of food we get is staggering. Luckily, a like-minded co-worker and I split a share. Even then, we have everything we can do to make sure that everything is eaten! Right now it is mainly greens with a few other things thrown in, garlic, radishes, scapes etc. It’s great!!

It feels good to be supporting a local area organic farm. It also is nice knowing that the farming practices that they use are natural. When I wash my veggies I am simply washing off the dirt from the ground that they have grown in, not hazardous chemicals. The people I have met at the farm are nice and helpful. And each week they provide a sheet containing a list of the foods that they are giving us and some helpful hints as to what they taste like, how to keep them and dishes to use them in!

And it is extremely economical! Since I split a share, it only costs me approximately $12.75 a week for a LOT of vegetables. If I went to my local grocery store it would cost a significant amount more and they would most likely not be organic or picked that very morning. That right there is reason enough to participate. Not to mention the whole supporting a local organic business that uses practices anyone can stand behind.

A quick google reveals that there are many local CSA to the Boston area. They are also all over MA as exhibited by the fact that, while I live in Boston, I get my share down south in Buzzards Bay. Additionally, there are many out west toward Springfield and up north toward Newburyport.

So, next season, give it a go – you will not be sorry!