Earlier this summer, I signed up with my local organic farmers' group [1], a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) [2] that promised to supply me with fresh, tasty fruits [2] and vegetables [2] 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 [2] 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 [2] 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.