Comments on: What You Need to Know About CSAs Before Joining

By: theo

theo — Mon, 24 May 2010 02:14:14 +0000

CSA has been a great financial decision living in NYC. In my past experience the benefits of joining a CSA:
1- Spend less at restaurants (eat at home more often)
2- Spend less money on groceries (bulk veggies = less meat & not meal oriented purchases)
3- Easier to budget grocery purchases (pay for 6 months at a time)
4- Spend less time in the grocery store (If you are indecisive this is a relief)
5- Eat healthier, fresher produce (spend less carbon emissions on shipping)
6*- Support local agriculture (a benefit for others)

By: Amy

Amy — Thu, 20 May 2010 20:18:27 +0000

I’m coming into my fourth year of CSA. I’m fully aware of the risks, but so far, I’ve had no problems. A couple of years ago, there was some flooding that hurt several CSA farmers in my area, but other farmers banded together and helped provide produce for them, so everyone continued to get veggies. My CSA farmer has a “swap box” at the pickup site–you can drop off things you don’t like and take others that you do like. I agree with the others who have said it forces you to try new vegetables, and I have some favorites that I’d never tried before getting my regular box.

By: Liz

Liz — Thu, 20 May 2010 14:32:30 +0000

We’ve been members of our CSA for going on 5 years now and we’ve never had cause to regret it. Most of the time, we’re concerned with how we’re going to use all the food we get. We even went through a bad year a couple years ago when the region experienced 150 year floods, but it was very encouraging the way the CSA and the community rallied and made a recovery. Keep in mind: you are with them for the bad years, but also the good ones. When that extra raspberry harvest comes in, it’s a nice surprise.

By: marci357

marci357 — Thu, 20 May 2010 13:24:45 +0000

well when you get going on your edible landscaping, then you will have something to share : )

By: Scoutsigns

Scoutsigns — Thu, 20 May 2010 13:24:29 +0000

This is a “penny wise, pound foolish” proposition, in reverse.

There is risk with CSA’s, since you are actually purchasing a share of a farmer’s output. If he wins big, you do. If he loses, you do.

What you are actually buying is not just a bag of veggies all summer, but you are helping to maintain local agriculture.

Absolutely you can shop at a farmer’s market, and you should. The variety and quality of the foods available can’t be beat. Many CSA’s also man a booth at a farmer’s market.

We have participated in CSA’s for a couple of years now. The funds may get us about the same or slightly less than what we could spend the time to shop for–but the trade is time for the slight difference in price.

Also, that farmer’s market farmer will continue to be there week after week if his income needs are met. Once they aren’t, his farming days are over. A CSA helps to stabilize that income flow.

There are a lot of arguments to be made about supporting local agriculture–quality of food, knowing the source of your food, stability of food supply, and more.

By: ChefZ/MB

ChefZ/MB — Thu, 20 May 2010 04:52:59 +0000

We are doing a CSA for the first time this year and the points made in the article are very valid. For us, it was a huge investment. We calculated the cost/benefit to us and determined that it was the route to go. Now, we are a childless couple and we bought into the farm for a whole share (enough for 4-6 people) that includes eggs, soup and sauces. The reason that we did this is because we determined that if we bought a full share they we could do small batch canning and freezing in order to stock up on enough food for the winter so we wouldn’t have to buy outrageously priced produce.

Before we made the choice, however, we went to the farm and spoke to the farmer directly. We also made sure to try some of his products from the farmers market so that we knew what quality of goods we were to be getting. Like our farmer says, “chickens make unreliable employees” and this can extend to the full CSA as nature takes its course. We were willing to take the risk though because it is so slight and because we know our farmer has a wide variety of products.

By: MoneyNing

MoneyNing — Thu, 20 May 2010 04:07:52 +0000

Swapping is better, but I’d be happy to buy some from my neighbor since it’s a fair trade too (unless I also have something to share of course).

By: Chris M

Chris M — Wed, 19 May 2010 20:40:48 +0000

We did a CSA for the first time last year. At first we were disappointed in the size/assortment for the first few weeks. But then… it picked up a *lot*. In the end, we were quite happy with it. One benefit we really enjoyed was it forced us to try some new vegetables we’d never had before.

We liked it enough that we’re doing it again. Yes, there’s some risk– but if you have the $, it’s worth considering. Even in the worst case scenario (which is VERY rare), you’ve at least helped a local farming family.

By: Jenna

Jenna — Wed, 19 May 2010 17:13:32 +0000

I’m part of a CSA and LOVE it. My mom and I split a share with another family, since typically we get more veggies than we can eat for a week. It’s like a farmer’s market but with one stop shopping. We get an email update with what to expect the week before which allows us to plan our meals in advance. We sometimes get a veggie or two we have no idea what to do with so it forces us to try new recipes. I learned last year I actually like beets. Plus, you get to support a great small business and get locally sourced and in our case, organic foods. Plus, it is a community activity, meeting up, selecting veggies, catching up with the actual growers and sharing ideas. (We don’t volunteer at the farm but love it anyways). I would definitely encourage people to sign up and join.

By: marci357

marci357 — Wed, 19 May 2010 15:22:44 +0000

We’re more into just swapping and giving away here

I swap tomatoes for green kolhrabi, and purple kolhrabi for cabbages,
and green beans for carrots, and herbs for beet tops, etc…
There are a couple of us who grow different things, and then we just swap around so we each get a variety, plus my family gets a lot of mine also