CSA 2019 Review

November 24, 2019November 23, 2019 by No Makeup Mama

On a road trip from Chicago to Detroit last month, we passed a billboard on the I-90 interstate that said something to the effect of: without truckers there would be no food.

…Wait, what?

The purpose of the billboard was to thank truckers during National Truck Driver Appreciation Week back in September and – don’t get me wrong – I’m appreciative, but I would not starve without truckers.

I am surrounded by local farms where I can buy my food so I don’t need to have it shipped from half way across the country [with the exception of some foods we can’t grow in the Midwest like bananas and avocados – but those are hardly necessities]. In fact, we should all be concerned by the fact that most of the food in grocery stores and supermarkets are transported by long-haul trucks from their place of origin. According to a Business Insiders article, without truckers, the grocery stores would run out of food in three days [read about it HERE.] To me, it is actually kind of sad that they are shipping in food from all over the map when food [often the same kind of food] is being grown by farmers right in my home town.

Having food shipped all over the world is not the best, healthiest, most economical, or most sustainable approach to feeding humanity, which is why we purchase a CSA share from a local farm each year.

CSA stands for Community Supported Agriculture.

The way a CSA works is local community members pay a price up front for a certain share in the crops produced on the farm. This provides security for the farmer in the event of a bad season and provides delicious, local, and in-season food for the shareholders. We’ve only had our share for two seasons, but we’ve already seen first hand how unpredictable the farming business is. And still, the benefits to spending my grocery budget in this way are totally worth any “risk.”

Here are some of my favorite things about our CSA:

1. My farmers are awesome. I literally know my farmers. That alone, to me, is super cool. And, what is more, these men are a part of my community. They employ community members. They are helping our local economy. I am proud to support them.

2. My food is picked when it’s ripe. My food isn’t picked when it’s green and then sprayed later to make it appear ripe. My food is also picked within a week of me picking it up.

3. My food is grown ethically. I know that my farm takes care of its employees. I don’t have to fear that I am buying food that is grown by a system that takes advantage of people [as many food sources do].

4. My food is grown organically. My particular farm [Rustic Road Farm in Elburn, IL] is applying for its organic certification, and they are very open and honest about their methods of farming.

5. My food is the real-deal misfit produce. You’ve probably heard about all the businesses selling the “misfit” produce that is rejected by grocers. Well, my food is the legit stuff. It comes in all shapes and sizes. It teaches me and my kids that a head of lettuce doesn’t have to look like those fancy plastic wrapped ones in the grocery store. It is food. We all need to be less picky and less wasteful.

If you’re considering getting a CSA share, my only advice is DO IT. If you have any questions about CSAs, let me know! I’d love to share more of our experience.

Also, you can read about our experience last year:

Our First CSA Share

CSA Update

Maybe you’ve heard the slogan “Without trucks, you’d be homeless, hungry and naked.” Well, I might be homeless and naked, but I won’t be hungry.

👨‍🌾 👩‍🌾 👨‍🌾

Karis

CSA Update

July 11, 2018 by No Makeup Mama ♥ 3 Comments

Now that month 1 of our first CSA share is over, I can confidently say that this is every bit as wonderful as I imagined it would be. My biggest fear was that we would let food go to waste because I didn’t know how to prepare it. But, I am happy to report that [so far] I’ve done a pretty good job of preparing and eating everything we’ve been given. Nothing has been thrown out [which is good because I am HUGELY against wasting food].

I am starting to fall behind, however. We have a weekly half share, but it is so much food that I am using the vegetables in pretty much EVERY SINGLE MEAL and we are barely able to eat it all before the next week [which is surprising since 90% of the food I eat is vegetables – but more on my eating habits some other time].

I still have a head of cabbage from last week, and I just got another one this week.

Cabbage recipes, anyone?

Here are some of the fun and unusual things we’ve received and how we ate them:

Garlic scapes – [I had never heard of these before] We ate them cooked in scrambled eggs and fried rice, in place of garlic in kohlrabi pesto, and fried with sea salt. They are better than munching on raw garlic…but you’ll still need a breath mint.

These super funky, curly things are garlic scapes.

Kohlrabi – [I had never heard of this vegetable before either] We ate the bulb raw [cut into “fries” for salads or snacks] and also roasted. We ate the leaves in soup and blended into a pesto which we use on pasta and pizza. This is actually a hugely underrated vegetable, in my opinion. You can do so much with it! And it’s pretty dang good!

This is what kohlrabi looks like. Word to the wise – peel the bulb before eating.

Swiss Chard – [I had never had Swiss chard before] We ate it sautéed as a side dish and baked into Swiss chard chips. Not my fave.

Bok Choy – [I had never had Bok Choy before either, though I have bought it many times to feed our sugar gliders back in the day] – We ate it sautéed and roasted with tamari sauce. I actually like it, but Brett and the kids aren’t really fans.

Kale [Red Russia and Siberian] – [I’ve had kale before, but it’s not something I usually buy] I baked it into kale chips – which the kids loved – and put it into vegetable soup [I make vegetable soup a lot], and also had it in salad, obviously. We got more today so I am looking forward to adding it to egg dishes and trying it sautéed. I will probably make more kale chips too.

Scallions – [TONS of scallions – which we are actually growing in our herb planters right now. I have scallions coming out of my ears!] I made a scallion and basil pesto – with basil from a client’s garden – and used some of the remaining scallions to top fried rice, a sweet potato skillet, and eggs. I chopped and froze the rest.

Vegan scallion and basil pesto. Don’t ask for the recipe – I make these things up, but it was delicious!

Other stuff we received: red butterhead lettuce, romaine lettuce, broccoli, cucumber, zucchini, summer squash, green beans, and cabbage.

So, about that cabbage…

Suggestions, anyone??

Karis

Our First CSA Share

June 20, 2018November 17, 2019 by No Makeup Mama ♥ 1 Comment

Ever since I first heard of a CSA [Community Supported Agriculture] program, I have been wanting to purchase a share. But, because my financial priority was always to buy the cheapest “healthy” food possible, I never felt that I could afford to pay share prices. The vegetables at the grocery store were healthy enough and fit in my budget.

[I haven’t actually done the research to determine whether store vegetables are cheaper – I just always assumed that they were.]

But, now that we’ve adjusted our financial priorities to reflect our true values regarding food [sustainability, healthfulness, and quality over…everything else], not only is a CSA suddenly affordable – it is literally the very best option BY A MILE and one that we will likely choose for the rest of our lives [assuming we always have a CSA available in our community].

Here are some reasons why I love it – and why you should give it a try:

Sustainability: Owning a CSA share is extremely sustainable. I picked up my share this week with my own canvas bags. There was literally no paper exchanged, no plastic bags or film around the food, no twisty ties, no produce stickers [hallelujah, cuz those little buggers are so unnecessary and wasteful].

Healthfulness: A CSA share provides the healthiest produce for my family. Each week, I am picking up food that is local and in season and just harvested the day before. I know exactly where it was grown, how it was grown, even the people who are growing it.

Variety: When I go to the grocery store where literally every vegetable is available to me all year long, I can easily just choose my favorites and eat the same vegetables my whole life [not to mention that I don’t even consider where this cucumber must have come from or how it has been preserved so well after being shipped half way across the country or how long ago it was picked OR how does it look so perfect anyway???? …but I digress]. With a CSA, I don’t even get a choice. Whatever is ready to be harvested that week – that’s what we’ll be eating. It makes so much sense. I can’t wait to experiment with a wide variety of foods – some that I have never even heard of before – and hopefully discover some new favorites!

Today was the first pickup of our 20 week share and I was so excited that I almost woke the baby up early from her morning nap so we could get going.

At the farm, the kids had fun petting and feeding the goats and chasing the chickens.

Oh, how we would LOVE farm life.

We picked up our food and thanked our farmers.

This just feels right.

Ever since Brett and I started rethinking how we wanted to live our lives, I have been wanting a simpler existence and more intentional, cooperative relationships with the people in my community. A CSA share feels like the biggest step we have made in that direction so far. And it feels good.

Now, I have to go figure out how to prepare kohlrabi for dinner…

Karis

No Makeup Mama

motherhood simplified

Tag: farming