What the heck is a CSA and what can it do for you?
CSA is an acronym for community-supported agriculture, an arrangement in which consumers pay farmers at the beginning of the growing season in exchange for weekly produce boxes. The boxes, also called shares, are picked up at the farm or at a
set drop-off location for the entire harvest season, which can last four to six months, depending on the farm.
Many farms are taking orders for their 2011 CSA boxes now and will start delivering in May or June. Some farms, such as Willie Greens Organic Farm of Monroe, offer both summer and winter CSA subscriptions. Some farms offer local add-ons such as flowers, honey and eggs.
CSA boxes, because they are put together by the farm and not you, can expand your culinary horizons by teaching you what’s in season in the Northwest, as well as how to cook it, thanks to included newsletters or recipes.
The Washington State Department of Agriculture estimates that there are more than 200 CSA operations in business across the state. Boxes start at about $18 a week, making them a cost-effective way to buy local food.
Some farmers have dramatically expanded the traditional CSA model by adding imported tropical fruits and vegetables for more colorful, approachable produce boxes with optional add-ons such as coffee, milk, bananas, meat, dairy and pantry goods.
That includes the Klesick Family Farm of Stanwood, which offers year-round produce and grocery home deliveries featuring food from the Klesick farm and other farms whenever possible in addition to imported food.
Delivering to customers’ homes and workplaces has proven to be a popular selling point for the farm, which has more than 1,500 year-round subscribers.
Other farms, such as Garden Treasures Nursery and Organic Farm of Arlington, have consumers pick up their produce at the farm or drop points such as Pacific Wine & Kitchen in Everett.
Full Circle Farm of Carnation, which expanded its year-round service area to Snohomish County last year, offers home deliveries weekly or every other week, including a standard size box for $37 and family size box for $46.
Each Full Circle Farm order contains between 10 to 12 fruits, vegetables, and herbs, with the amount of each item increasing by box size. Customers can also add a variety of other groceries, including local cheese, meat and bread. Customers can skip or cancel orders as needed.
SPUD.com, meanwhile, is an eat-local home-delivery grocer that offers customizable harvest boxes in addition to myriad grocery items.
On every SPUD order, food miles — the distance the food traveled from the farm to the local warehouse — are listed next to each grocery item.
If you’re interested in signing up for a CSA, it’s important to find the one that’s right for your lifestyle, said Sheryl Wiser, spokeswoman for the Cascade Harvest Coalition, which runs Puget Sound Fresh, an eat-local consumer education program that publishes a county-by-county CSA directory every year.
“I think the most important thing to remember when choosing a CSA is that no two are alike,” Wiser said. “There are some different models and people have to find what works for them.”
CSA tips
Check your delivery day: Think critically about when you’ll actually be able to handle a large box of produce arriving at your house. If your delivery or pick-up day is on a Tuesday, but you like to cook on the weekends or prep vegetables on Sunday night, you might consider another CSA.
Start small: If you’ve never signed up for a CSA before, start as small as possible. It’s easy to overestimate how much food you’ll actually use each week. If you regularly go out to eat or visit friends, you’ll need even less food.
Share with another family: Because the farmer usually selects what you’ll be getting in your box, you’re bound to find something you don’t like or don’t want to eat every other week. Sharing makes it more likely that you’ll use everything in the box. Sorry, you’ll have to also share all the good stuff, like the berries, when they’re in season.
Be realistic: Yes, it’s quite inspiring to open up a box of fresh farm produce, but you still have to provide the motivation, meal planning and cooking time to turn those raw ingredients into dinner. Don’t expect a CSA to change your life if you don’t like to cook.
Opt out: Many CSA programs allow you to opt out of foods you don’t like. Use this flexibility to your advantage to avoid waste and disappointment.
Prepare to eat seasonally: You may find that it takes a while to make a transition from eating whatever is at the grocery store to whatever is in your CSA box. In most CSAs, the first crops will be salad greens, peas and green onions. By the end of the season, the boxes should be much heavier, with things like summer and winter squash, potatoes and tomatoes.
Clean and prep: Prepare some of the produce as soon as you can. Wash and trim the greens so it doesn’t take an hour to make a salad when you’re ready to eat. Put things like delicate strawberries in the freezer right away if you know you can’t use them in the next couple days.
Plan to buy fruit: Most CSAs do not provide families with enough fruit to meet their usual intake. Plan to visit U-pick farms, farmers markets and farm stands if your CSA doesn’t offer a fruit or a separate fruit box. You probably will need to buy supplemental vegetables such as onions, garlic and carrots.
Check out some cookbooks: Hit the library for books that help you cook seasonally such as “Farmer John’s Cookbook: The Real Dirt on Vegetables” by Farmer John Peterson, “The Big Book Preserving the Harvest” by Carol Costenbader or “Northwest Essentials: Cooking with Ingredients That Define a Region’s Cuisine” by local chef Greg Atkinson.
See The Dish blog for more tips on CSAs and whether one is right for you.
Sources: Dark Days Challenge 2009-10 and LocalHarvest.org
Find a CSA
Puget Sound Fresh: See www.pugetsoundfresh.org or call 206-632-0606. Look for the 2011 CSA directory online in mid-April.
Local Harvest: See www.localharvest.org or call 831-515-5602.
Washington Wellness, a unit in the state Health Care Authority, has created a tool kit to help employers organize CSA deliveries to their workplaces. See tinyurl.com/workplaceCSAwa or call 360-923-2730.
Sarah Jackson: 425-339-3037, sjackson@heraldnet.com.
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