The Top 5 Reasons to Join A CSA!

1. Eat Healthier

· CSA members get the very best of what a farm has to offer. They pick your food the day you get it, allowing you to have the freshest and most nutrient rich produce possible (Not to mention the TASTIEST!). Because you are getting your food directly from the farm, it will last longer in your fridge than what you bought at the store, because store produce has been harvested, stored, shipped, and stored again, all before being bought and brought home by you. You are also making a commitment to cook at home, because you need to use up the produce that you’re getting each week!

2. Support the Local Food Movement

· By joining a CSA, you are supporting small, local business. You are also reducing your environmental footprint. Small-scale farmers have good farm practices, including avoiding the use of chemicals and pesticides, in order to promote sustainable farming. They also help maintain biodiversity by growing many varieties of crops, as opposed to large farm conglomerates that only farm one variety of produce in order to make it cheaper for them to produce, and thus more profitable. You also are greatly decreasing the number of miles your food travels from farm to plate, which reduces pollution due to transportation, processing, and distribution.

3. Self Education

· Without trying, you start to learn the seasons and have a deeper connection to where you live. You learn what types of crops grow best in your area, and what is in season and when. You have the flexibility to only sign up for the seasons when the produce is what you like, or you get to try lots of new produce that you may have never bought before. CSAs also often offer varieties of foods that aren’t found in local grocery stores (daikon radish, garlic scapes, etc.). Many CSA boxes come with new recipes for you to try using the week’s harvest, effortlessly expanding your personal cookbook.

4. Save Time & Money

· A CSA is essentially a one-stop-shop for a week’s worth of produce (sometimes including meat, dairy eggs, honey, etc!)- It doesn’t get easier than that! The produce you’re buying is comparable in price, if not cheaper, to grocery store costs- especially if you’re part of an organic CSA!

5. Community

· Joining a CSA makes you an active member of your community. You get to know your farmer, know their story, and know how your food was made. You’re supporting the farmer by paying up front- giving them financial security in a job where their work and the ‘fruits of their labor’ are so often left up to the whims of mother nature (weather, disease, bugs, etc) and the whims of human nature (choosing to buy produce at the store vs CSA or market, stopping by the farm stand vs driving by, etc). If you have questions about the food, the farm, farm practices, or anything else, all you have to do is ask your farmer! You also have the opportunity to meet other people in your community who share your interest in local, sustainable food. You might just run into someone at the CSA pick up, where you will have the chance to exchange recipes and experiences; to organically meet and connect with a neighbor in a day and age where that so rarely happens!

This is a photo of one of our CSA shares at the beginning of Spring- check out that fresh harvest! :)