2007 Decisions about CSAs and Farmers' Markets

[Chris Amirault]

It's that time of year: I've been snooping through Farm Fresh Rhode Island's CSA pages trying to make decisions about whether to and where. We've done Wishing Stone (eh) and the Southside Community Land Trust CSAs (very good) in the past, but we're having some difficulties thinking through transportation challenges. Honestly, too many of the CSAs locate pick-up out at the farms themselves, which is difficult for two working people with young kids to get to weekly. Meanwhile, the listing of farmers' markets looks very strong this coming year.

How do people make their CSA and farmers' market decisions? Do you lean toward one or the other? Why? What factors do you weigh in?

[MarkIsCooking]

I joined a CSA for the first time this year and I'm very excited to see how it goes. I joined on relatively close to my home. I figured the odds were much higher that I'd actually get there and use the food if I picked a convenient location. I'm luckier than some, since the farm is only about 15-20 minutes from my home.

Whether I get my money's worth or not, I'll feel great about supporting a local farm and helping make sure that for another year the place won't be turned into condos!

-Mark-

[fchrisgrimm]

This is our fourth year in a CSA - Fort Hill Farm, New Milford, CT.

We met up with them via a local Farmer's Market at which they sell. I was hooked by their greens (specifically the tatsoi) which are about the best ever!

First year the available delivery was a little out of the way, but as they have grown they've added drop-sites that are closer to us.

Not cheap - and for two, it is a little more than we can easily use - but you can't beat the opportunity for fresh, organic, and local. And we use a higher percentage of our weekly box contents each year!

A lot of good reasons to do this - but we'd have never first signed up if not for the high quality.

[ghostrider]

I've long been intrigued by the idea of a CSA, but found it difficult to get hard info on the contents of a typical order from the one that serves my area. When I finally did, I saw that there was just too much stuff that we wouldn't eat. And even the edible stuff was boring: Golden Delicious apples when there are so many tastier varieties available? No thank you.

Being able to choose my produce is both one of the important pleasures of life & a matter of economic necessity. So I will stick with the farmers' markets, organic or not as the case may be, & that is the end of the matter for me.

[Fat Guy]

How do people make their CSA and farmers' market decisions? Do you lean toward one or the other? Why? What factors do you weigh in?

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CSA really limits your flexibility. It's great for people with settled lifestyles who cook at home several times a week for the entire six-month CSA cycle. If you travel a lot, or you dine out a lot, you wind up with a lot of excess. You're also limited in that you get what you get and then you have to figure out what to do with it. That can be a lot of fun, and if you handle it well you get amazing output, but it can also get exhausting by week 20.

We're lucky in that our CSA option is three blocks away, with delivery at a church on 90th Street and Fifth Avenue in Manhattan. That's more convenient than any greenmarket in the city, and far far more convenient than any good greenmarket. But if you don't have a super-convenient CSA location, that's also a factor, because you still have to go grocery shopping every week anyway.

The other thing that can make a difference is if you live in a city where you can get very good produce without the help of either CSA or greenmarkets. You can certainly do that in New York, though nothing quite matches the best of CSA or greenmarket. Then again, you can often beat the CSA/greenmarket average if you're a smart retail shopper (Chinatown, Fairway, etc.).

The social/political/ethical considerations certainly seem to support CSA as an excellent food solution. So in some years I'll pay for CSA even though I hardly need it. Probably not this year, though. At least in New York, supporting greenmarkets is a little bit less of an ethical slam dunk -- you can get great stuff at the greenmarkets, and some of the farmers are wonderful people, but there's also a lot of junk at our greenmarkets, a lot of sleazy practices, it's hardly idyllic.

[snowangel]

I've done the CSA, and I now do the farmer's market. Piggy-backing on what Steven said about Chinatown, etc., I am lucky to live in an area that has a huge Hmong population, and my, oh my, have they upped the bar at the farmer's market. Their produce is spectactular, clean and well presented.

But, for me, the farmer's market is convenient. There is a a branch of a huge Twin Cities farmer's market that is in my neighborhood every Tuesday, which is my typical grocery shopping day, and it is only a mile (round trip) out of my way.

What I like about the farmer's market instead of the CSA is the connection with both shoppers and the marketers. The Hmong lady at the end of the farmer's market knows that I am queer for cilantro roots, so she saves some for me. I guess part of it is that the CSA is not nearly as convenient for pickup, so I'm more in a rush.

But, more important, I want to fondle the greens, and decide just what I want. For example, i have a bit thing about spinach. We love it. And, we really, really love the more mature crinkely green stuff, not the baby spinach. I have developed relationships with the folks at my local farmer's market, and Karen always makes sure that there are three or four bunches, when it is in season, tucked under the counter, with my name on it.

I have the luxury of doing this, but for me, even when I worked full-time, it was about getting up at 5:00 am one day every week to get to the farmer's market to find those perfect radishes, that young garlic, and the prettiest green beans.

[djyee100]

I've belonged to a CSA for over 10 years now. I hemmed and hawed for two years before that, because I was afraid I wouldn't cook the veggies that just came every week, without my being able to choose what I wanted.

As it turns out, I'll cook anything in my refrigerator when I'm hungry. And since I was unfamiliar with some of the produce, I hit my cookbooks and tried new recipes. Subscribing to a CSA has been great for getting me out of the rut. Plus, I've learned to cook and like some veggies that I never ate much before, like winter squash and turnips.

But I always tell people who are interested in joining a CSA: You have to cook. If you're disinclined to cook, or if you're too busy to cook regularly, a CSA is probably not right for you. But if you are an improvisational cook or someone who just likes to cook with what's on hand, you might enjoy belonging to a CSA very much.

For anyone looking for a CSA, localharvest.org lists all the CSAs in the country. http://www.localharvest.org/csa/

[MarkIsCooking]

One of the things I love about the CSA I joined is the way the pickups work. Members come to pick up their shares. If for any reason a member does not take his/her share OR if they want less than their share, the balance of the harvest each week that members don't take is donated to feed the hungry in our area.

I totally understand how people would prefer to use everything 'they're paying for', but it's another reason why I'm psyched about having joined the CSA.

Hunger is a huge problem in this country and if my membership helps even a little, than I feel good about that.

Maybe we could make more progress on fighting the problems of hunger if we paid a little more attention to real issues and a little less attention to things like the paternity of Anna Nicole Smith's baby. Wishful thinking???

-Mark-