One of the best decisions I have made in the past few years is to sign up with my local CSA. I wrote about this earlier in the summer. One of the benefits of membership is knowing where my food comes from and who plans, plants, grows, harvests and delivers my food to me.
Not everyone is as lucky as I am to live close enough to a farm which sells shares and goes the extra mile cater to individuals, but the benefits make it worth the extra effort to find one nearby.
A few days before we pick up our shares, we receive an email. This email is written by my farmer, Amy to inform us of what is going on with the farm, the current harvest, upcoming harvests, the content of my next box of produce and it is always interesting and informative. You can browse through previous newsletters here.
I don’t know if all CSA’s have such an interesting literary component, but I learn a lot and appreciate it. From their emails we hear about the struggles, the joys, the challenges and the successes of this incredible undertaking. I feel like part of the extended family learning about the process, the ups and downs, watching my farmers’ kids grow, and eating the fruits of that family’s labor, planning and perseverance.
When I see Amy or Segue to pick up my share, I feel as though I have a little better understanding of the journey, knowledge, experience and hard work behind every bite. I never felt that with grocery store food.
If you are near the St. Louis, MO/IL area check out Three Rivers Community Farm. I highly recommend the whole experience.