In November 2010, Brian and I began our first ever CSA membership with a winter share at Mighty Food Farm. In the 27 months since then, we’ve been loyal Mighty Food members. Today we submitted payment for our third full year share.
It’s honestly hard to remember a time when I wasn’t travelling to Vermont on a weekly or biweekly basis to pick up produce. It’s become part of our routine, part of our diet and one of the things I look forward to regularly. The CSA share keeps us eating vegetables at a rate that I’d never maintain otherwise. I’ve never done a cost analysis, but given the amount I spent last week on a minimal amount of non-organic supermarket produce since we’d missed the last pickup due to our vacation, I’m pretty sure it’s worth it.
I also really enjoy the community of being a CSA member. It’s fun to check in with Lisa and the other farm workers on a regular basis and run into friends. I love seeing the variety of people that show up at the farm on pick up days and hear them swap ideas and recipes for different ingredients.
CSA produce keeps me focused on my kitchen goals. As I rarely need to buy vegetables at the store, we’re constantly eating in season. Sometimes that makes me a snob when I see other people eating tomatoes in the dead of winter, but it’s so exciting when a great food appears on the farm shelves. I’ve grown accustomed to planning meals around what’s available and being creative to use up what I picked up at the farm. Being a CSA member has shaped my eating and cooking habits in a way nothing else has and I’m very much looking forward to the 2013-14 season.
