Region: Great Lakes U.S., but I know these exist elsewhere too.
Plenty of folks advise you to get to know your local farmers and build your own regional supply lines. I want to share my experience of how I've done it and what I've learned.
I bought a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) share for the first time in February 2020. To find one, Google them for your region, call your local university's agricultural extension office, or ask around at a farmers market. What they look like is paying up front for a share of farm products. This lets the farmers share the risk and gives you an opportunity to try a wider variety of produce. I pay about $500 for my vegetable/produce share (June through October, though April and May can be added for an additional fee), with the option of adding a dozen eggs each week for $5, flour for $9, and bread for $5. That'll vary by region. Smaller shares are less. I split a large share with family to make the quantity (so many beans and tomatoes! So many squash!) make sense.
Through my farmers I've made connections with local poultry producers. That helps us get our chicken and turkey. You'll pay more than the grocery store but the quality is great and it feels good knowing the folks who did the raising and slaughtering.
CSA farmers also sometimes network. Mine are part of a foraging group and sometimes provide hen of the woods, morel, and other mushrooms as well as lambs quarters and garlic scapes. Mine also run a mill, and supply individuals as well as other CSA farmers with local grain products. Others work with honey and maple syrup producers, fruit growers, dairy farmers, etc.
For those with the resources, CSAs can be a great entry point into your local farming community.
Are there any farms in Belleville that operate a farm share program in which you get a delivery of produce on a regular basis? I couldn't find anything online.
Thank you!
Some background on my situation: I live in south Florida and my roommate and I work full time. We have an agreement that I handle groceries and cooking and he does all the dishes in exchange. I have some health issues that cause me to be quite low energy, even on good days so it can be rough just to get through work most days. Decision fatigue is a major problem for me.
I've been looking into alternatives to grocery shopping in general since the pandemic started and was getting most of my groceries through either delivery or pickup but it has been stressful even to select groceries online. I am incredibly indecisive so it will literally take me 3 or 4 solid days before I'm ready to check out. I'm also trying to move towards a zero waste lifestyle and want to cut my carbon footprint as much as possible.
I started looking into meal kits and "ugly food boxes" as a way to save myself a lot of time and anxiety while still being affordable. The more research I did the more I saw that the kits are wildly expensive and the food boxes are kind of a scam and not actually good for the planet or pocket. I then started looking into CSAs in my area...which seem great for a ton of ethical reasons but wouldn't end up really saving me time or money. I would have to put down hundreds of dollars and be locked in to driving an hour away once a week to pick up my share. I do have a small garden but I have some major limitations in terms of what I can grow due to the space, sun exposure and since I'm renting I can't just rip out the grass to make room.
So I guess what I'm looking for is some kind of alternative ideas for ways I can supplement my personally grown veggies with locally grown produce (or even other grocery items) that won't require a ton of emotional/physical labor and will still be easy on my budget. I'm fine with going to a pickup spot but don't want to have to go every week...maybe just the weeks I'm up for it. We aren't picky eaters and no allergies so I have little need for customization. Am I asking for the world or does such an alternative exist? Anybody in south Florida with specific places in mind?
TL;DR: Where can I get local groceries in south Florida that is budget friendly and won't require a ton of work or decision making? Without the commitment or investment of a weekly CSA...
CSA's aim to be sustainable through sound ecological practices, creating a viable local economy, and promoting equal access to food.
By investing in a CSA (typically around $500 a season), you ensure cash flow for local farmers and have peace of mind of how your food was produced. In your CSA, you will get a number of fresh, seasonal produce from the farm you choose. These boxes are either delivered to your door or are picked up at a designated location weekly.
Hi all! I'm hoping to get a CSA for produce this summer and would love recommendations. We're a family of two, so "small" options would be great. Not looking for anything fancy or niche. We're fine with pickup being a little ways outside Durham!
Are there any Community Supported Agriculture options in Duluth? I was using Farmer's Fresh and had it delivered to my door when I lived in Atlanta, but since moving I have had a hard time even finding any other options closer to our area.
Thank you for your help!
Tea
Do you love farm fresh food? Do you frequent local Farmer's Markets or subscribe to CSAs (Community Supported Agriculture)? Do you ever order groceries online?
If you said "Yes" to any of these questions, please take a minute or two to fill out our survey. We're giving out $20 Amazon gift cards for participants who qualify.
Your participation will help my team and I refine and complete our concept mobile app project for Graduate Studies in UX at Maryland Institute College of Art.
Thank you for your help! I will gladly take your survey in exchange for your time.
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1dgQKjwd9GnGAtZhbuVS9CXxrOLxU9eeoYbeXX-HfTBk/edit
Since the pandemic shut down our farmers' market, this year I finally subscribed to a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) share. For those unfamiliar, a CSA is like a subscription to a local farm. Each week you get a box filled with whatever assorted produce is ripe, directly from that farm.
Instead of picking a recipe then shopping, I had to come up with ideas for what to do with all the things in the box. It was a great exercise in being creative, and I got to try things I'd never had / bought / prepared before. The specialness of having received it from a local farmer made me really want to avoid waste, so I learned how to use carrot, beet, and turnip greens, and roasted pumpkin seeds for the first time. It was also neat watching the season progress from herbs and lettuces to corn and tomatoes and finally squash and root veggies. Sometimes it was a little stressful to plan around, but on the whole, I'd highly recommend a CSA if they have them in your area!
By CSA I mean usually it's a farm that people have a membership to and somewhere between once a week to once a month you get a box delivered that has an assortment of locally grown fresh fruits and vegetables for that season. I've tried looking but have had trouble finding one that is within driving distance of Brampton or at least delivers here.
I recently moved here from California. Back there I purchased weekly CSA boxes (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Community-supported_agriculture) and am interested if anything similar exists here near Rotterdam. A CSA box is a box or bag of random foodstuffs produced from a local farm that you either pickup at a common location or it is delivered directly do your house on a regular basis. I like the random nature of the items each week and that I can give my money directly to the farm. Is there anything similar here? Maybe there are some specific Dutch words for this to help with internet searching?
How easy has it been to integrate the whatever they send you into your daily meals?
Do you get veggies and fruits only or meats too?
How's the quality been compared to supermarkets? And how about the price?
Is a significant portion of the food going to waste?
How frequently are you getting your orders?
After having watched the recent debunking of the farmers bill by our very own genuine and talented journalist Faye D‘Souza, who ends the discussion by recommending her viewers to either form or be part of Community Supported agriculture groups who would coordinate and ensure direct fresh food supplies straight from farmer, whose profits then naturally is given back to the farmer.To quote her, she urges us to pre-book our tomatoes , wheat etc with the farmers nearby. Apparently this is already in place in some parts of Kerala. Are you guys aware of any such groups functioning well in our city ? All recommendations would be of massive help to everyone out here. Just started my research as well will post my findings also.
Many of these places will deliver weekly boxes of fresh produce. Looking to start a list or find out if there's an existing one (web searches are kinda patchwork with results).
I literally just signed up for one and it was a total non-contact experience. I ordered online and Big Sis and I picked it up at our local Farmers Market.
Bonus: If you receive SNAP benefits (as many of us do these days) you could be eligible for a discount or Match Money.
One box may be too much for a single- person household so I typically split mine with family.
Anyhow, Cali is a huge Ag state and our farmers and workers have been hit hard.
Thanks for coming to my TED Talk.
Hi all, it has been a while since anyone has written about Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) in the Grand Rapids area. I am interested in getting a share this season, and I wondered about your positive and negative experiences as well as quality and quantity of food. The share will just be for myself, but I eat a plant-based whole-foods diet, so I eat more vegetables than the average person. I wonder if a full share will be too much for me. Most CSAs that offer half-shares have pick-ups every other week, and I am not sure how I feel about the freshness of the vegetables. The CSAs I was considering are:
Blandford Nature Center
New City Neighbors
Groundswell Farm
Plainsong
Full Hollow Farm
Here is a link to the other post I looked over before writing this. Thanks in advance.
I was wondering if anyone has ever done a Community Supported Agriculture box. I am interested in people's experience and recommendations. I am hoping for an organic CSA and I will be around during the summer.
Seems like now is the time to sign up. Curious what has worked for other people here!
Or are those produce boxes meant to supplement not supplant your groceries especially considering the fact that they don't include staples like bread, beans and rice (maybe potatoes but not enough to serve as a staple) as well as spices that would add a lot of flavor in such dishes?
Speaking of CSA (community supported agriculture) boxes, not that I plan to get any soon myself (though honestly, I'm not in a position right now for that), could they sere as a tool to eat cheap and healthy or it depends (some are affordable, some are expensive and there may be issues with each service, not to mention issues like spoilage)? This is more of a hypothetical, but do you think it'd be a good idea if the government funded a weekly CSA (community agriculture box) to people on programs like SNAP/EBT (either to replace/supplement the program)? Could it actually even improve health outcomes and decrease long-term health care costs by nudging people to eat produce?
Does anyone know of any CSA boxes that can be delivered and wont break the bank of a broke grad student?
Does anyone know of any local farms who have CSA programs with pickup/delivery in the Santa Fe area?
Would be nice to support farms directly and avoid the shops for fresh produce.
Are there any good CSAs in the area? I know the farmers market is starting up this Saturday but am interested in other ways to get access to local food as well.
Do you love farm fresh food? Do you frequent local Farmer's Markets or subscribe to CSAs (Community Supported Agriculture)? Do you ever order groceries online?
If you said "Yes" to any of these questions, please take a minute or two to fill out our survey. We're giving out $20 Amazon gift cards for participants who qualify.
Your participation will help my team and I refine and complete our concept mobile app project for Graduate Studies in UX at Maryland Institute College of Art.
Thank you for your help! https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1dgQKjwd9GnGAtZhbuVS9CXxrOLxU9eeoYbeXX-HfTBk/edit
