Natural Kidz blog contributor, Robin Kaplan, is a mom of two rambunctious boys, a wife, a Mompreneur, a lactation consultant, and a social media geek. When she isn’t acting as her children’s referee, tour guide, or personal chef, she attempts to run her business, the San Diego Breastfeeding Center. During those sweet quiet moments when the kids are at school, she can be found writing about parenting and breastfeeding on her blog, on Twitter (@SanDiegoBFC), and her Facebook page.
I first heard about Community-Sponsored Agriculture (CSA) about 8 years ago when I was working at the San Diego Museum of Art. There was an artist I had befriended that had just moved here from Massachusetts. While discussing cooking and our favorite restaurants over lunch one day, she asked me if I belonged to a CSA. I had never heard of such a thing. I mean, I loved to frequent our local farmer’s markets, but I was enamored by the idea of having fresh fruits and vegetables delivered to my neighborhood every week. Where do I sign up?
Well, after 3 years of being a proud CSA member, I can’t begin to tell you how much I ABSOLUTELY LOVE participating in this program. Here’s how my CSA works, which I think is very similar to most CSA programs out there. I pay $25 a week for a HUGE box of in-season organic fruits and vegetables. This is something that would cost me at least $50-$75 at Whole Foods. I am charged in bulk, so three months at a time, in advance. Then every week, I go to a designated house in my neighborhood where I pick up my box of goodies. And let me tell you, it’s like my birthday every week… I never know what surprises I am going to find in that cardboard box. It’s amazing!
If I haven’t enticed you yet to run and do a Google Search on CSA programs in your town, here are a few other reasons why CSAs rock.
Top Five Reasons to Join a CSA:
~Since all of the fruits and vegetables are in season, and literally picked the day before, they stay fresh FOREVER! I have had apples in my fridge for over a month that are still crispy and delicious. Lettuce lasts for up to three weeks….that is, if we don’t eat up its goodness right away.
~My young kids are trying foods that I may never have purchased from the store. Persimmons, beets, spaghetti squash, kale….you name it. I may not have ventured to buys these items from Trader Joe’s, but when they are sitting on my counter or in my fridge I try to find ways to use them. Plus, they always want to choose a snack from the CSA box to eat on the way home in the car. It’s my way of combatting Type 2 Diabetes, one child at a time.
~Who has time to buy local fruits and veggies from the farmer’s market every week? Something always comes up and next thing I know, I am back at the grocery store buying items shipped from all over the world. I want to help my local economy. This is one way I can do it. I figure it balances out all of those trips to Target where I buy cheap stuff from China in the dollar bins. Hey, I try my best!
~You can make your eco-conscious friends jealous when they eat your incredibly fresh, tasty meals that cost a fraction of what they spent at the grocery store on their organic fruits and vegetables. Nothing like a little friendly competition.
~It’s supporting local organic farmers. In my opinion, the only way we can slow down, and eventually stop, the massive overuse of pesticides sprayed on our food is by supporting organic farmers. These small business owners need our help and I am proud to say that I am doing what I can to change the way we grow food in our country. Yes, that was a little soap-boxy. Sorry about that!
So, next time you are perusing the Internet, thinking about what meals you want to cook this week, check out if you have a CSA program in your town. I promise, once you start, you will become completely obsessed with fruits and vegetables and save a decent amount of money as well!
