Eating for Sustainability: CSAs defined + 6-week recap

For the past 6 weeks, I have been experimenting to see if our family could shift our food consumption to almost all local and/or organic without spending more on groceries than we did at the start. In the beginning, we ate a fair amount of processed food, frequently bought non-organic produce, and wasted more food than I would have thought. I guesstimated that our original weekly grocery spending averaged $200, so my goal is to keep costs at or below that level. I should note that this cost doesn't include eating out (once or twice a week) or the cost of weekday lunches for my husband and oldest kiddo.  After 6 weeks, I'm happy to report that our weekly grocery average is $179. Last week was the first week that I bought organic selections for as many of the items on my grocery list as possible. We'll see if the average goes up or not in the coming weeks...

Several people have asked about the CSA we buy from: what they are and whether we like it. First of all, the simplest way to describe a CSA is a farm subscription. When the concept emerged, folks would pay a particular farmer in advance for a share of that season's harvest. Each week the customer picks up a box of produce, with contents and amounts dictated by what's ripe each week. In this way, the consumer shares the risk with the farmer, because if it's a drought-year or pests decimate a particular crop, they will see the results in diminished boxes. But if it's a bumper-crop year, customers reap the benefits of that as well, sometimes getting enough produce to share or preserve. This model benefits consumers by giving them regular access to fresh, local food, and benefits farmers by essentially helping them bypass (at least partially) asking banks for credit each season. In addition, they are assured payment each season, even in times of crop failure, which means that more small farms can stay in business each year and continue to provide food to the local community.

As the CSA model gained steam, farmers began to pool resources to offer customers more variety each week. This is the model we are currently supporting with our Fair Shares subscription, and I have to say, I really like it. We joined Fair Shares this winter, so I'm not sure what weekly allotments will be like in the growing season. Now in late winter, we receive very little that's "just harvested", but are really enjoying things that have been grown and preserved here locally (like spaghetti sauce and canned peaches). I've been amazed by the flavor of crispness of local apples that have been stored by the CSA since fall. I know I don't have room in my fridge to hold dozens of apples for months, so it's been great to get a few each week. And of course, the fact that this particular CSA includes meat, eggs, and dairy seals the deal that I love it. Here's what we got a couple weeks ago:

There are other things in the "plus" column for me, besides knowing I'm helping support small farms and eating more healthy food. Recipe planning is more fun. Instead of thumbing through a cookbook with no direction or inspiration, I have the ingredients from the weekly CSA box as a starting point for meal planning. I no longer have 30,000 ingredients that I could start with. I have 10 or 15. Much more manageable, and frankly, inspiring. My trips to the grocery store are quicker, as there are fewer items to grab each week. And--very important, I think--we waste A LOT LESS food. In part, this is due to the fact that when the connection to the farmer is shortened, I tend to consciously value their efforts more than I do when picking up something that's pre-packaged and super-easy for me to toss on the table without much thought or effort. Reduced waste could also be due to the fact that I don't want to have to report on here that my grocery bills rise due to this experiment, so I try harder than I used to!

Here's a great how-to link for reducing food waste in your household. http://www.epicurious.com/articlesguides/blogs/editor/2014/01/ways-to-reduce-food-waste-.html  Hope it's helpful!