Oakland Bites: CSAs, Holes in the Wall
on March 17, 2009
A friend of mine was recently telling me how her CSA (community supported agriculture) membership had changed her life. Even if she can’t make it to the store or the Farmer’s Market, she always has a fridge full of fresh fruits and veggies. Given that my fridge is basically down to Tobasco and wine, I’m thinking it’s about time I get my own membership. And, according to my friend, my fears of signing up for a box of just kale every week are unfounded.
If any of you are avid CSA members and want to convince me to get in the game, comment below, or send me an email at oaklandbites@gmail.com. I’d love to hear your personal experiences and recommendations.
I also wanted to give a shout out to Art and Sue who suggested Adam’s Burger on Lakeshore and Christopher’s on College as good, Oakland-only burger spots. Thanks for the feedback, and hopefully, I’ll report back soon.
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Some great CSAs I’ve belonged to over the years: Full Belly Farm, Terra Firma Farm, and Eatwell Farm. Terra Firma (the current pic) is my favorite since it’s the most diverse assortment of things, but all were good. The bigger issue is who has the selection + plan + pick-up spot that works for your household, since they vary in cost, box size, etc. They all post box contents on their respective websites, though, so you can do side-by-side comparisons.
Do it. You’ll get the variety, you’ll be forced to eat vegetables and be creative with them, and you don’t have to think about buying a bunch of vegetables at the store. You’ll still need to buy some at the store to complete recipes, but much better than having to pick out everything at the store.
Further, you’ll get better tasting vegetables and the system works in that you’ll also get “ugly” fruits and vegetables. There’s less waste in this system even if you end up throwing away (or better yet composting) fruits and vegetables you don’t end up eating.
CSAs are a win all around. We go with Eatwell. They’re great and the drop off location is my next door neighbor 😉