Have you ever tried a CSA or community supported agriculture food box? If not, allow me to explain their purpose to the community. The CSA is an agreement between a local farmer and the consumer to buy local, seasonal produce in allotments of full or half shares. Shares or food boxes can be picked up weekly. A full share feeds 4-6 people, while a half share feeds 2-3 people. Most of the CSA’s require that you pay for your food boxes up front, so that plenty of seeds and needs can be met prior to the start of the season.
Some CSA farmers give you a list of produce available and you choose which items you want. Others tell you what is on the list and fill your box with those items. Substitutions or omissions are available. Just ask the farmer, what the rules are, if any. There are times when a particular crop does not grow, or is ruined by pests or weather conditions, or perhaps there is a surplus of several foods. Like the farmer, you too must weather through the good and bad crops. The farmer will do everything he can to save the crops, but sometimes it is just out of his control.
What foods are available during the spring, summer, winter and fall? First, it depends on the state in which you wish to receive the produce. Most likely, some foods will be new to you, but the farmer will have many ideas on how to prepare the food. There are a few farmers who enjoy growing unusual items, such as Asian Greens, Jerusalem Artichokes, Chinese Cabbage or Pak Choi. There are others who stick with the same types of produce each year. It just depends on your tastes and willingness to try new foods and recipes.
Is it really cost effective? If we took the same types of food and purchased them at a local chain grocery store, not only would we be paying substantially more for them, but there would be less variety and low quality.
How fresh is the food from the CSA and how is it different from a grocery store? With the CSA, your food is picked the day you pick it up. It is cleaned, washed and bagged, before you get to the farmer. A full share of food, depending on the farmer’s CSA, is around 15+ pounds of food, while the half share is about 10 pounds of food.
Grocery stores have food brought in daily, yet 40% of the time, in certain seasons, the fruits and veggies aren’t ripe or are overripe. Keep in mind that certain foods do not ripen after they are picked from the vine, particularly some varieties of plums, tomatoes, pears, and peaches. Some foods may even start to mold, rot or get mealy from the inside, such as peaches, tomatoes and cucumber. The problem is, you don’t know what is the freshest when you go to the grocery store and what has been sitting there for several days.
Are there organic produce CSA’s? Yes. Certified organic growers have to adhere to strict laws and regulations for having an organic farm. If a farmer who has used pesticides in the past, but wants to change to organically grown food, they must follow a process. The land must detoxify itself for several years before it can go green. Farmers, may have organic produce, but can’t be certified until they have met the number of years’ requirement to do the switchover.
Do the CSA’s offer ideas, suggestions or recipes for their foods? Yes, you just need to ask or you can look on the internet for suggestions. Many times, the farmer has several books or handouts of recipes.
What are the seasons of a CSA? Spring/summer typically includes from April to the first week of July, summer/fall includes July to the first week in October, while October to mid December concludes the fall/winter CSA. These can vary depending on the farmer and how many seasons he provides CSA food boxes.
Do you have gluten and casein free food needs? If so, some of these farmers carry a variety of products for home baking of cookies, browns, cakes, and breads. If you are not into cooking from scratch, there are plenty of mixes available with multiple uses. Muesli mix is one of those uses – while it can be eaten as a snack or heated with milk for a hot cereal, it can be baked into cookies, muffins or waffles. Bob’s Red Mill has a variety of gluten free products. What is convenient is that he sells different types of flour and the ingredients used to make homemade breads, cakes and cookies. Everything is right there. No more hunting in different stores looking for xanthum gum, potato starch or tapioca pudding.
In Linwood, North Carolina, 45 minutes south from the Triad, J&S Organic & Poultry Farm has a wide variety of fruits and veggies. http://localedge.com/listing/159476/53553/J+%7C+S+Farm/3366650350/2301+Sandy+Ridge+Rd/High+Point/ZZ/27265
In addition to the CSA boxes, John also has a store in which he sells his produce, the gluten and casein free products, spelt, herbs/spices/extracts, jams/honey, nut butters, bulk baking ingredients, homegrown meats, and dairy products from neighboring farms.
Other farmers have not participated in 14 successive years of a CSA, let alone have been brave and experimented successfully with new crops. In fact, the economy has driven many farmers to reduce the number of CSA’s each season or to increase their prices to keep up with fuel costs and supplies. If you are considering buying a CSA share, it is best to buy prior to the start of a season before it is bought out.
Farmer John has a fantastic assortment of chickens, hens and roosters, which he proudly displays these Poultry awards in his store. He also has geese, heritage organic turkeys, and ducks, all of which are butchered in NC and sold at his store on Sandy Ridge Rd. He also carries butchered meats from other farms in North Carolina, such as goat, rabbit, sausage, pork, quail, pheasant, ostrich, lamb, beef, boar, and even RAW! Dog Food. In addition, he buys dairy products such as chicken and duck eggs, milk products, cream, cheese, and butter. During the holiday season, he buys this incredibly fabulous eggnog from a local dairy, that is better than any larger chain grocery store nog. It comes in 3 sizes, but you’d better buy extra, as it goes very quickly!
Having been his customer since 2007, he has had a surplus of food, rather than a shortage. His prices have been well below grocery chains, yet he stays competitive with market rates. His CSA boxes are a priced reasonably, especially when you consider how much more food you are receiving, the quality and that it is organic (yet, not paying organic prices). What is eclectic, modern and yet, traditional about J&S Farms is his ability to acclimate to the wants of his customers, the needs of the economy, and the demand of the market.
