Thursday July 24th, 2008
 |  |
 |
The Problem With Eating Local
Posted by Su Avasthi on September 20, 2006 - 8:32pm.
Earlier this summer, I signed up with my local organic farmers' group, a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) that promised to supply me with fresh, tasty fruits and vegetables on a regular basis. I chose their smallest plan, which meant that I picked up an enormous box of nature's bounty every two weeks. If I'd kept a journal of my experience, it would go something like this:
Box 1: Fantastic!! Am swimming in super-fresh organic goodness. Mangoes, avocados, strawberries, cauliflower, kale. Pat self on back, walk around with satisfied glow of making healthy, earth-friendly choices. Or maybe glow comes from eating so well. Did I mention that I'm swimming in produce?
Box 2: Another huge box. More cauliflower, more kale. Must plan dinner party, so as not to waste a bit of this organic goodness. Or maybe two dinner parties. Now, just have to find simple cauliflower & kale recipes.
Box 3: Despite two dinner parties, tossed out a bag of spoiled greens and a moldy avocado. Hmm. Busy schedule all week. No time for dinner parties. Must find time over the weekend to cook and freeze all these vegetables.
Box 4: Am now swimming in spoiled produce — and secret shame. Never got around to cooking & freezing dishes. Just threw out a lot of once-wonderful produce that went bad in my fridge. I can't get through it all, even though I eat like a rabbit all day long. Maybe I only think I like vegetables.
Box 5: Am determined to be proactive about my produce. Instead of wine, I come bearing bags of tomatoes and cantaloupes. Make four loaves of zucchini bread. Freeze one; give rest away. Give my neighbor three eggplants and a spring of basil. Give my mom some strawberries, salad greens and tiny red peppers. I am sharing the wealth — shouldn't I feel better?
Box 6: Cancel the membership with the CSA. Justify this because I am going out of town for two weeks anyway. But deep down, I know that I'm obviously a failure. I guess I just don't like vegetables enough.
***
And it would have ended like that. But two weeks later, my uber-healthy cousin — who lives in Seattle with his uber-healthy wife and kids — came to visit. Because I was still ashamed about quitting, I started carrying on about the freshness of the CSA's produce, how healthy they are and how good it felt to belong, blah blah blah...
He shot me a guilty look. "Really?" he said. "We belonged to one near us, but quit because even with the four of us, we couldn't finish all those vegetables."
And just like that, all my shame and guilt vanished. What a relief to know that I do like vegetables after all — when they're in small, manageable quantities. I'll sign up with my CSA again in a heartbeat.... once they offer a plan that matches my needs.
We had the same experience last year, so we didn't join this year. Perhaps CSA need to come up with other plans...otherwise no one returns to them.
while the author may be correct that the smallest CSA box is too big for a single person, most ag experts state that there is not enough locally grown food to feed a city like nyc, chicago, dallas, denver, etc. additionally, americans have gotten very use to eating numerous fruits and veggies year-round. this, however, is not realistic with most local farms; unless they build large greenhouses.
I did mean that there's too much produce in a box for a single person or a couple.
As for variety, my CSA (based in New Mexico, which has a fairly limited growing season) had arrangements with other organic farms, and managed to offer a great selection of fruits/veggies.
It's probably worth investigating the options near you.
My husband and I are members of our local CSA, in San Juan Capistrano, CA and have been for the last five years. We get a regular box every two weeks. I shop at the farm twice a week besides getting the basket every other week. Eating the recommended "5-a-day" servings is a minimum for healthy eating, eating 9 serviings a day is really what we need, in terms of fiber and vitamins, etc. Vegies only have an average of 25 calories per serving, so having lots of salads is a great way to consume your vegies.
Also, our CSA lets us exchange our vegies/fruits if we want different kinds.There is always an exchange basket available, so if there are too many potatoes or -fill in the blank here- for our liking we can always make an exchange.
It works for the two of us, and I admit that I love eating fresh organic produce. There is nothing like it.
I also feel good supporting the local organic farm which is just down the hill from our home.