Saying Yes to CSA

I've been intrigued by the idea of participating in a CSA (community supported agriculture), however I never signed up because:
1) I felt our eating choices & lifestyle may not have supported the commitment and
2) I'm lazy (I didn't want to have to drive to the downtown farmer's market where they did the drop off because it's way too busy...it's the kind that's actually in town and they block of access to a few blocks).

However, as luck would have it, FarmFreshToYou found me. They had a booth set up at Lowe's this past weekend for a Muscular Dystrophy Association charity drive. All told the event had a car show, sponsor booths and Lowe's employees ran a few things for a $1 each (kids bounce house, Raider's gear auction, food booth, etc.) The Lowe's proceeds were all donated to MDA and I saw one vendor saying that 10% of their sales went to MDA.

Anyways, FarmFreshToYou delivers right to my house and there's no commitment or contract, so there goes my objections. We signed up and our first delivery was yesterday. I can definitely tell the taste and quality difference between what we received compared to what we used to purchase at the grocery store. Now I finally get to have organic, very local fruit & produce and support our area farms too.

Another strong 'pro' to their set-up, in my eyes, is that we were not 'stuck with what we get'. We are able to make note on our account of certain fruits and/or vegetables that we never want to receive (really awesome since there are a few strong food aversions in this house!) and that we can substitute for items that we'd rather not get for that delivery. All they ask is that we substitute a fruit for a fruit or a vegetable for a vegetable and that the substitutions have to be called in at least 48 hours prior to delivery. Sounds fair enough, I say.

Our Mostly Fruit box contained a few substitutions. In exchange for the naval oranges, lemons and grapefruit, we received blood oranges and more of the pears and strawberries. Since this was our first experience, I also substituted the Braeburn apples for Fuji apples to have a real side-by-side comparison. Fuji apples are my favorite and most-often purchased choice for an apple.

In the last year or so, as I've become much more aware about taking care of me on the inside, my fresh, non-factorymade food choices have evolved from slim-to-none into eating a greater variety and having several servings per day. My fruit intake has increased from just bananas, green grapes, the occasional melon and Red Delicious apples to several varieties of apples, apricots, avocado, bananas, a number of different berries, cantaloupes, red/green grapes, kiwis, kumquats, nectarines, peaches, plums, pineapples, pomegranates and watermelons.

And to hear me even talking about eating vegetables, or dare I say talking about how much I love eating this or that, is a total 180 from where I used to be a few years ago. Now that I've finally stopped saying "I hate vegetables", I've grown to like most raw veggies and am willing to try just about anything, especially if cooked in a way I haven't tried before. Seriously, I watched Claire's enthusiasm as she roasted brussels sprouts on her show "Five Ingredient Fix" and now I want to have a taste. I'd always imagined brussels sprouts as steamed, mushy and just plain yucky. But crispy and flavored with bacon, now that does sound like some vegetable goodness!

Based upon the yum factor of what we ate from our FarmFreshToYou delivery just yesterday alone, I know that we made a healthy and nutritional choice for our family by signing up. I am so very happy for what I will get to try but, even more than that, I'm excited to be teaching my children that nature is abundant and delicious!

Though this may sound like a paid-for-review post, it is most assuredly not. I'm proudly sharing my family's experience with a local CSA so that others can read a firsthand experience. If you've participated in a CSA, please share your experience in the comments! As all CSA's are not created equal and not all are located in the agriculture a'plenty state of California as mine is, a broader range of experiences will be welcome.

Until next time...Take Care Of You!

Photo Credit: Colorful Veggies
Photo Credit: Fruit Salad
Photo Credit: Roasted Brussels Sprouts
(as prepared by Claire Robinson, Host of 5 Ingredient Fix)

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