Community Supported Agriculture (CSA): Get Fresh Local Produce

We just joined a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) Program in Orange County. We directly pay the farmer and he/she provides us with one week worth of local organic produce. Now our fruits and veggies don’t travel miles to us — we just travel a few miles for pick-up. I took the above photo with my phone.

It’s not for everybody.

• You need to be adventurous in your cooking.
• You need to plan your meals.
• You need to plan the basket pick-up.
• You need to commit to washing and prepping all the produce.
• You need to make an investment in the crop. I usually spend about $30 on produce a week anyways. With a CSA you pay ahead for the quarter. However, now I’m saving at least $30 a week off groceries which I’m putting away for next quarter.
• You need to read more about the advantages and risks on LocalHarvest.org.

You need to learn how to choose a CSA. These were the two farms I researched:

• South Coast Farms in San Juan Capistrano
• Morning Song Farm in Rainbow

There are many, many more if you search the Local Harvest website.  I don’t know if we’ll participate every quarter. For now, the kids are enthralled with the farm basket. It’s cool for them to see what carrots look like with the stems still on. They’ve already figured out that strawberries picked fresh are so much better than those at the chain grocery stores. It brings them a little closer to their food. And, honestly, it just tastes better.