TheAutumnOak Posted June 30, 2011 Share Posted June 30, 2011 Do you think it is worth it?...We belong to a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) and I am now questioning it...We have done this for several years now and I like belonging (most of the time), I am just wondering what are other views about it...The one we belong to is organic and costs $600 a year (growing season from end of May - beginning of November) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Delighted3 Posted June 30, 2011 Share Posted June 30, 2011 I have heard of CSA and looked into them. I'd rather take the $600 to the farmers market all summer long and pick what I want when I want it. JMO, Joy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snickerdoodle Posted June 30, 2011 Share Posted June 30, 2011 It is worth it to me because I feel that I vote with my dollar. Supporting small family farms is important to me. However, it is pricey (our price is similar to yours and with a similar timeline). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gailmegan Posted June 30, 2011 Share Posted June 30, 2011 Ours is a small farm about 5 min from my house. It's organic and even has a green house, so it goes all 12 mos. I think it's $160/quarter, so $640/year. It works out to about $13/week and we get lots of food. This week was a pint of blueberries, 3 ears of corn, 2 cucumbers, about 8 red potatoes, 2 heads of broccoli, a big bag of baby spinach, a medium bag of green beans and a small bag of parsley. I think I'm forgetting something. It probably would have cost $25 if I had purchased everything separately. If I were paying $600 for only 6 months worth, I would expect to be getting double the amount I listed or it wouldn't be worth it to me, I would just buy local organic items as needed, since sometimes things go to waste like turnips or rhubarb. What on earth does one do with 3 lbs of rhubarb? :tongue_smilie: Does that help give you an idea to evaluate what you get for your $? Since I'm close by there shouldn't be a regional difference in price either. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liz CA Posted June 30, 2011 Share Posted June 30, 2011 First time CSA this summer. Just started in May. I am on the "every other week" schedule because there are only two of us. I think it's pricier but I like to support young, organic farmers. I like seasonal veggies. Financially, I may be able to do better at the local natural food store or farmers market but I wanted to try it out. It may come down to what snickerdoodle said - a philosophical statement rather than savings. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Julie in Austin Posted June 30, 2011 Share Posted June 30, 2011 When we lived in Davis, CA, absolutely. Here in Central Texas, no. I tried, and felt that the amount of money and variety of food and quantity of food involved didn't make sense--better to take that money to Sprouts or Central Market or even Randalls. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crimson Wife Posted June 30, 2011 Share Posted June 30, 2011 I've looked into them because I really like the idea of supporting local mom & pop farms, but unless I started canning there's no way I could use up that much fresh produce every week (the "small" box is about 10 lbs. worth). I've thought about trying to find another family to split the box but the logistical hassle of that has kept me from taking the plunge. The price isn't bad compared with what the organic produce costs at the grocery store and it's way more convenient than the Farmer's Market. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WiseOwlKnits Posted June 30, 2011 Share Posted June 30, 2011 When we lived in Davis, CA, absolutely. Here in Central Texas, no. I tried, and felt that the amount of money and variety of food and quantity of food involved didn't make sense--better to take that money to Sprouts or Central Market or even Randalls. :iagree: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carol in Cal. Posted June 30, 2011 Share Posted June 30, 2011 (edited) It's worth it but not in cost, for me. I never have eaten so many veggies before in my life. That's what I needed to get healthier, and this is making me do that. The abundance and the fact that they are shovelled at me every week to eat, give away, or toss is making me just dive into them instead of planning it out and never getting around to it. I tried going to the farmer's market every week. I tried shopping at a veggie stand store twice a month. I tried overbuying. Nothing made me actually eat the stuff. I can't explain it, but it's true. Plus it's so GOOD. I'm getting things that I never would have bought at the store. And I give some of it away, which I like to do--I like being generous and hospitably, and this helps me do both. I do end up throwing some away as well. I wish that wasn't so, but I look at it as part of the price for the health I'm gaining. Edited June 30, 2011 by Carol in Cal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PiCO Posted June 30, 2011 Share Posted June 30, 2011 Do you think it is worth it?...We belong to a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) and I am now questioning it...We have done this for several years now and I like belonging (most of the time), I am just wondering what are other views about it...The one we belong to is organic and costs $600 a year (growing season from end of May - beginning of November) I belonged to a CSA last year. I LOVED it, but it wasn't worth it for my family. It's just me and my 2 daughters, and we would have had to eat a LOT of veggies at every meal to consume all the food. So this year I am just buying what I want. If I didn't feel like I was wasting veggies, I would do it again. I believe in supporting local farms, and I felt it was a good value. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheAutumnOak Posted June 30, 2011 Author Share Posted June 30, 2011 The issues that are making me rethink it are the following... - The time it takes to harvest the "pick your own" crops - The time it takes me to properly harvest all of the food (washing and spinning 6 heads of lettuce, blanching green beens and brocoli. etc.)...I usually spend about 3 hours at the sink doing everything...I will get large quantities of a few things at a time and must freeze it or something...I also need to learn to can... - The amount of food we waste...This is mainly DH's issue...I realize that I can't cook or eat everything, but DH doesn't like food being tossed... Overall, I like belonging because I do enjoy the food (just not all the prep work), I like supporting the CSA (though ours is not new and has a waiting list every year)...I am just wondering if I should go the Farmer's Market/Whole Foods route next year... Thanks for taking the poll and giving your input :001_smile: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lisa in the UP of MI Posted June 30, 2011 Share Posted June 30, 2011 We joined a CSA for the first time this summer and are enjoying it. It has been a little hard to use all of our green leafy things, though! This is the best and easiest way for our family to get organic vegetables on our table. Our grocery store has a small selection of things and our tiny co-op does, too, but the only place we could go to get a good selection is 40 minutes away. A good farmer's market is just as far and not at a good time for us. Our CSA veggies are delivered to dh's work and he just picks them up in the cafeteria on Wednesday afternoons. The summer season with our CSA is June through October and we pay about $550. We did get $200 back from our health insurance. We wouldn't get that if we had gone to a farmer's market, so that's another big plus. We are also trying out new things that we probably wouldn't have tried if we were just getting what we wanted from a store or farmer's market. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lovemyboys Posted June 30, 2011 Share Posted June 30, 2011 Ours is a small farm about 5 min from my house. It's organic and even has a green house, so it goes all 12 mos. I think it's $160/quarter, so $640/year. It works out to about $13/week and we get lots of food. This week was a pint of blueberries, 3 ears of corn, 2 cucumbers, about 8 red potatoes, 2 heads of broccoli, a big bag of baby spinach, a medium bag of green beans and a small bag of parsley. I think I'm forgetting something. It probably would have cost $25 if I had purchased everything separately. If I were paying $600 for only 6 months worth, I would expect to be getting double the amount I listed ..... Ours was about $600 from early-April to late-Nov. From mid-summer through Sept., we would typically get 3 large grocery bags of a variety of produce, including share bins where we could take extras, herbs, a wild-flower field to take cuttings, tomatilloes and cherry tomatoes to pick, a corn "share" and berry-fruit/egg/chicken options available for just a bit more. When we started, I was concerned that we'd get stuck with bags full of zucchini by July but they were able to manage the volume and variety very well -- from May through Sept., there were no fewer than a dozen, often two or three dozen different things available. The main reasons we joined were to expand the variety of food we ate, support local organic farmers (ours was associated with a college so they were training others as well), and eat more seasonally. Looking for one in this area for next year, meanwhile we support the local farmers' markets. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FairProspects Posted June 30, 2011 Share Posted June 30, 2011 It completely saves us money because I force myself to plan dinners around what we receive. We eat far healthier, and have discovered many vegetables we love that I would never have picked up on my own. Our CSA has also made me a much better cook. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JFSinIL Posted June 30, 2011 Share Posted June 30, 2011 Just started getting stuff form ours a couple weeks ago - cool weather and rainy spring held up everything. So far mostly lettuce...am hoping the crops ripen now that it is sunny and we get more! DS home from college got a summer job as the CSA's "farm hand"! This is a job he would not have heard of had we not joined the CSA...so it has paid for itself already in wages to him! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jenangelcat Posted June 30, 2011 Share Posted June 30, 2011 Depends on what you mean by worth it. It most cases it's not going to be cheaper. Small farms that grow sustainably, organic, whatever you want to call it, price real food at it's real cost. If that's important to you then it's worth it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kewb Posted June 30, 2011 Share Posted June 30, 2011 I loved it when I was part of a CSA. The one I was in for a few years closed as the person who ran it had to stop do some health issues. I loved it because it forced me to try new veggies and I discovered some things I did not know I would like. This year I joined a Food Co-Op. I have been very happy with my half share and unlike the CSA in my area it runs all year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LostSurprise Posted June 30, 2011 Share Posted June 30, 2011 I don't think vegetable CSA would be worth it for us. I have my own garden and prefer to raise what we will eat. We do belong to an organic meat CSA though. We used to buy beef/pork/chicken through this guy and pick it up in the fall but he recently started offering a share program. For $400-something we get certified natural (they can't afford to certify organic) hamburger (@10lb), pork chops (2-4), bacon (1lb), roasts (1), eggs (1doz), stew meat (3lb), and a 'surprise.' We pick it up once a month and it lasts 6 months. While I miss having control over the amount of meat, I think this is extremely cost efficient for natural/organic meat. I can visit his farm at any time, and I know he does this for the love of it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
C_l_e_0..Q_c Posted June 30, 2011 Share Posted June 30, 2011 I like the idea of a CSA. I like it a lot. But we tried one year, and it didn't work for us. We lost so much food. Either I didn't have time to prep everything, or it was veggies we didn't like very much, or we were busy and running from one fast food to another, like we do often in the summertime. We didn't renew that year, but a couple of years later, we tried again only to find ourselves in exactly the same situation. So now, I just go to the market. I *wish* it made sense for us to go the CSA route. I just really like the idea of it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pretty in Pink Posted June 30, 2011 Share Posted June 30, 2011 We did belong to one a few years ago. It was pricier than just hitting up the local farmers market, and you don't get to choose what you get for that money. We still felt it was worth it because the family that ran the farm was really kind, would show the boys around and let them pet animals and such each week when we went to pick up our box, etc. My children enjoyed those weekly visits so very much. I'd like to sign up again for one, honestly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nukeswife Posted June 30, 2011 Share Posted June 30, 2011 For me it wouldn't be worth it because we'd never use everything we would get. I looked into them, but there are just to many things we aren't going to eat, we like veggies, but are pretty picky about which ones. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
myfunnybunch Posted June 30, 2011 Share Posted June 30, 2011 Ours costs $400 for 20 weeks of produce, so $20/week. I always question the worth at the beginning of the growing season because we're mostly getting greens and beets, which we can grow easily ourselves, and things we wouldn't choose to grow or eat, like salad turnips (which are ok) or radishes (which aren't ;) ) or rutabaga (which looks cool like a space vegetable but isn't our favorite). But we get as much as or more than we'd get from the grocery store for the same $20, and it's all organic. About mid-season, it really starts paying off, when we get veggies we'd choose to buy anyway. Late season, the fall harvest means that we're definitely getting more than our money's worth. Cat Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Legomom Posted June 30, 2011 Share Posted June 30, 2011 We split ours with another family and it worked great. We had to go to the farmers' market weekly to pick it up, so we picked ours up every two weeks and the other family picked theirs up on the "off" weeks. The produce was so fresh that it lasted for two weeks and we ate more vegetables and more variety than what we would typically select at the market. My husband now loves garlic scapes and I like swiss chard. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soror Posted June 30, 2011 Share Posted June 30, 2011 We don't have one right at our area I checked into one at a farm north of here but it didn't seem worth it as what you were getting was not a good selection and not very much. If there was decent one here I might consider it. As it is I like to be able to pick what I buy- I loathe people picking out food for me. I would have to have a good idea of what kind of produce was going to be available. We eat a fair variety and usually a good amount but somethings go over better than others, everybody loves asparagus but only the girls like broccoli, even likes salads, etc. I know there was a farmer here selling pork but the only way was in this variety pack and they decided all the cuts. I never could buy from them it annoyed me so much. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G5052 Posted June 30, 2011 Share Posted June 30, 2011 We tried a number of vegetables we would not have considered, got many tips about local gardening from the farmer, and enjoyed the eggs, honey, and local fruit when it was available. The downside was that the nearest pick-up was at the farm, and it was an "interesting" drive on poor roads. Blocking out the time to go was tough at times. After that we've expanded our own garden and focus on that now. I'm glad we did it though when gas prices were less and my schedule was more flexible. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luckymama Posted June 30, 2011 Share Posted June 30, 2011 There are several local CSAs but we've chosen not to participate. Gailmegan's box would have lasted us 2.5 days! A double share would be very expensive. I support local farms by buying our produce, both fruit and veg, at the Sunday farmers' market at the local natural foods store. Delaware people, this is a true farmers' market! We also pick berries, stone fruits, and apples at nearby-ish orchards, some are certified while others are not. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jane in NC Posted June 30, 2011 Share Posted June 30, 2011 The issues that are making me rethink it are the following... - The time it takes to harvest the "pick your own" crops - The time it takes me to properly harvest all of the food (washing and spinning 6 heads of lettuce, blanching green beens and brocoli. etc.)...I usually spend about 3 hours at the sink doing everything...I will get large quantities of a few things at a time and must freeze it or something...I also need to learn to can... - The amount of food we waste...This is mainly DH's issue...I realize that I can't cook or eat everything, but DH doesn't like food being tossed... Overall, I like belonging because I do enjoy the food (just not all the prep work), I like supporting the CSA (though ours is not new and has a waiting list every year)...I am just wondering if I should go the Farmer's Market/Whole Foods route next year... Thanks for taking the poll and giving your input :001_smile: My CSA delivers a half bushel box of organic veg for roughly $20 per week. There is no pick your own component although I have heard of this. A friend of mine belongs to a CSA in which everyone has to spend x number of hours working on the farm. She has enjoyed this though because the subscribers also have a couple of potlucks during the year--a community building aspect. Besides the CSA, we are sometimes given vegetables from friends who garden. It seemed that we were in cabbage overload recently so I just passed the extra along. I did spend some time this morning chopping, blanching and freezing kale. I do enjoy having this in the freezer to add to soups or baked ziti or what not during the winter. A bit of hassle now for some nice nutrition later? Canning is not that hard nor expensive if you are just using a water bath canner. You may already have a large enough pot to convert for this use. I love my CSA. I do also go to another farm that has the Pick Your Own feature. Earlier in the week I picked blueberries and made jam. Yum! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
melissel Posted June 30, 2011 Share Posted June 30, 2011 Tahara, I'm pretty sure I know which CSA you're referring to. I split a box with a friend for a few years (skipping years in between :lol:), and neither of us could keep up with the produce. There wasn't enough variety for us, and even with a split share, we'd get SO MUCH of one or two things each time, we ended up wasting much more than I cared to do. Especially the lettuce--good grief, the lettuce! I need to buy my lettuce prewashed and ready to eat, because if I have to wash that much lettuce, spin it dry, pick all the little bugs out, and find a way to store it all every week, I'll just never eat it! If you want, I can link you to a co-op I'm in that I really like. I'm going to stop for the summer because we're so close to a great farm that I'd rather support them and buy just what I need, but for the rest of the year (and since it's probably too late for you this year), this co-op is terrific. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carol in Cal. Posted June 30, 2011 Share Posted June 30, 2011 Especially the lettuce--good grief, the lettuce! I need to buy my lettuce prewashed and ready to eat, because if I have to wash that much lettuce, spin it dry, pick all the little bugs out, and find a way to store it all every week, I'll just never eat it! What I found works best for the lettuce is to store it in the veggie bin of the fridge until right before I use it, with the heads upright, like a bouquet. Then I wash it and tear it into salad pieces and spin it dry right before I pack it in a big Tupperware or serve it. That way it stays much fresher than if I wash it right away. I have a great salad spinner--the one from Pampered Chef. I find that if I tear it into bite-sized pieces before I spin it, it gets much drier than if I leave it as whole lettuce leaves. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Photo Ninja Posted June 30, 2011 Share Posted June 30, 2011 It works out to about $13/week and we get lots of food. This week was a pint of blueberries, 3 ears of corn, 2 cucumbers, about 8 red potatoes, 2 heads of broccoli, a big bag of baby spinach, a medium bag of green beans and a small bag of parsley. I think I'm forgetting something. At that price for organic produce I would do it. I check into it almost every year, but keep deciding against it. Here, one CSA is $25 per week and there are only vegetables because they are a small farm. I want fruit as well. That leaves one other organic farm option, but it costs $35 per week, which is a lot of money when we would be getting produce that we don't eat, like radishes, beets and way too much kale and chard. It is more cost effective for me to take that $25-$35 each week and go to the Farmer's Market and pick out the organic fruit and vegetables that I want. Some of the sellers are the same farms as the CSA, anyway, so I am still supporting local growers. Their weekly boxes just don't meet my needs for the cost. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
happypamama Posted June 30, 2011 Share Posted June 30, 2011 I am wholeheartedly for the idea -- in theory. I love supporting local farms and farmers and think a CSA would be a good way to be "forced" to try new things so as not to waste them. We did a CSA once several years ago and generally liked the idea. However, in reality, it's not a very practical option for us for several reasons. -One, all the ones around here require a large amount up front and early. It might work out to a reasonable amount per week, but I don't generally have the extra cash to front it for several months (and if I did, I'd probably opt to buy a quarter of a cow instead). -Two, they typically seem geared to a family of around four people for the price, and that's too small for our family. (Sometimes you can add an additional partial share or something, but that puts the per-week price over what I usually spend on produce.) -Three, pickup times are often inconvenient for me (I think one around here is early Thursday evening, for instance, which is a horrible time for me to be dragging all 3.75 kids out), and it got to be a pain to do it every single week. -Four, I only buy extra produce to process for the freezer or such if I know I have time that week to deal with it. I won't buy ten pounds of tomatoes if I know I have a lot of other stuff going on that week, but with the CSA, you get whatever's available that week. -Five, some of my family won't eat certain veggies. Would rather not spend the money on them. For me, it works best to go to the local farmer's markets myself. There are several around, and they're on different days, so I can plan my other errands around which market I want to visit and vice versa. And I can buy the fruits and veggies that I want, and I'm still supporting my local farms. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WeeBeaks Posted June 30, 2011 Share Posted June 30, 2011 Not worth it for me personally. I would rather pick up local produce at the fruit stand based on what I actually need per week. I also started my garden myself, which produces a lot of what we need now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LittleIzumi Posted July 1, 2011 Share Posted July 1, 2011 I use Bountiful Baskets, which is a food co-op but it's not a yearly amount. You can buy in each week or skip it, and you can also buy extras (this week, I'm getting 25 lbs of peaches!) It's $15 for two small laundry baskets full of produce (1 fruit, 1 veggie) or $25 for organic. It's much cheaper than buying the veggies, they are from more local & smaller farms (not all are local but even bananas come from a small farm in Mexico instead of the conglomerates in Central America, etc), and they are so much tastier than the store. Seriously. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Osmosis Mom Posted July 1, 2011 Share Posted July 1, 2011 Well, this has been our first year with a CSA and we have not been impressed. The price is about the same as yours, but, jolly, we don't get much. On top of that, then we are expected to work 20 hours. There is also PYO, but just stuff like more kale, dill, cilantro. We have gotten a tiny head of broccoli, two heads of lettuce, some salad greens (yummy and clean), a few radishes, five scallions, stuff like that. Very little stuff except if I wanted to eat kale only. So, no, I have not been impressed -actually more like disappointed! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
In the Rain Posted July 1, 2011 Share Posted July 1, 2011 I voted "not worth it". I love the concept, but it was too many of some veggies and not enough of others. For example, 2 beets doesn't seem worth the effort to prepare. We love beets, and usually do 5 or 6 beets at a time. I like the idea of supporting local farms, but I'd rather pick and choose what we get. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thescrappyhomeschooler Posted July 1, 2011 Share Posted July 1, 2011 I don't think it's more economical. I pay $650 for the season of 22 weeks. I get a bushel basket of produce. I like the idea of CSA and want to support the people who are doing this hard work. The produce is delicious and fresh, too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HSMom2One Posted July 1, 2011 Share Posted July 1, 2011 (edited) We were part of a local CSA for a few years and I LOVED it!! We paid $85 per month between February and the end of November and got a very good variety of produce each week. I loved it that we knew our farmers and actually visited the farm a few times. It was good to know that our food was grown without chemicals and hormones, wasn't trucked or flown from another state or country - thereby saving fuel and pollution to the environment, and that we were supporting local business. The last point was quite important since we believe that buying local is the best way to spark the economy. Another great joy we found in being part of a CSA was in planning our meals around what was available. It was a valuable lesson for all of us, and it was fun to creatively work with what we received each week. I learned to like that much, much more than planning a meal and hunting down the ingredients at the supermarket. When we had to drop out of the CSA it was a hard thing to do, but we were forced by circumstances rather than because we changed our minds about it or were unhappy. I will gladly go back to buying from local farmers through a CSA once our circumstances change. Blessings, Lucinda Edited July 1, 2011 by HSMom2One Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Holly IN Posted July 1, 2011 Share Posted July 1, 2011 I have heard of CSA and looked into them. I'd rather take the $600 to the farmers market all summer long and pick what I want when I want it.JMO, Joy Ditto. I just can't afford to fork it all at once. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HSMom2One Posted July 1, 2011 Share Posted July 1, 2011 Well, this has been our first year with a CSA and we have not been impressed. The price is about the same as yours, but, jolly, we don't get much. On top of that, then we are expected to work 20 hours. There is also PYO, but just stuff like more kale, dill, cilantro. We have gotten a tiny head of broccoli, two heads of lettuce, some salad greens (yummy and clean), a few radishes, five scallions, stuff like that. Very little stuff except if I wanted to eat kale only. So, no, I have not been impressed -actually more like disappointed! If that happened to me, I'd be shopping for another farm to buy from. Our CSA gave us generous amounts and a great variety. Blessings, Lucinda Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tutor Posted July 1, 2011 Share Posted July 1, 2011 (edited) We joined a CSA for the first time this year and we are very happy with it. We get organic, locally grown food and it costs us an average of $30/ month. We have a half share so only pick up twice a month, but we can pick what we want of what's available (as long as we remain within our points; we get a discount picking it ourselves) and it supplies about 70% of our family of 6's veggie needs. I hope we can afford a full share next year. Edited July 1, 2011 by Tutor mis-calculated monthly ave. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Renthead Mommy Posted July 1, 2011 Share Posted July 1, 2011 We just joined this year. It worked out to only $40 a week, $900 for the season. I'd spend close to the for the same thing in NON organic form at the regular grocery store for the samething. I don't even want to think about it would be at Whole Foods. I split it with a friend so we pick up every week. It's been totally worth it for us. Yes it's a lot of cool weather greens at the start of the season, but that is what grows. It is easier having two different people going to pick up. Pickups are later in the day because they have to harvest. Our biggest issue is where we live. We drive 15 miles to get there, and we are going with end of day traffic coming out of the city, so that sort of sucks. But considering this is about the only thing I travel with the traffic for, I can't really complain. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jyniffrec Posted July 1, 2011 Share Posted July 1, 2011 We joined one for the first time this year. You can either choose to work or to pay. We chose to work and it has been a beautiful thing. The CSA has a great college student that runs the show and she works a lot with children and gardening. Our kids are always coming home with plants and learning about how to do things around "the farm". She even allows ds 10 to come on Thursday mornings and volunteer by himself. We haven't gotten much produce, but the garden gave us basil plants to grow at home to use for a feast for our church in September and she is always sending food up to our house with ds. It is literally in our neighborhood and the people that are members are our neighbors. It really doesn't get better than this! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Girls' Mom Posted July 1, 2011 Share Posted July 1, 2011 I liked the one I belonged to at first, but then more and more of the produce was coming from CA or Mexico...kind of defeats the purpose. The quality was going downhill fast as well. If you are getting quality, local, organic produce, then yes I think it's worth it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LibraryLover Posted July 1, 2011 Share Posted July 1, 2011 That's $11.54/week over the course of a year. I spend far more than that on produce in a year. While your CSA is not 52 weeks long, I find it helpful to consider the whole when figuring these things. It's good to support loal people doing good things. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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