Oh, The Things You Can Do With A Farm-Share Box
I stared at the box brimming with vegetables, wondering what I'd gotten myself into. Unidentifiable greens, tiny round potatoes, a clutch of dirt-dusted, perfectly red radishes, a small container of wild strawberries — all this bounty was mine, if only I could figure out what to do with it.
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Welcome to cooking from a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) share. You might not always recognize every item in your weekly box, but it's almost certain to inspire.
I ventured into CSA subscription years ago when I lived on the East Coast, prompted by my brother who was working on an organic farm in Virginia (his farm didn't run a CSA, but others in the area did). I loved the idea of supporting a small, local farm, and I saw it as a complete win-win situation for both the farmer and myself: The farm received a reliable weekly income, and I received incredibly fresh, organic produce that cost less than a trip to the supermarket.
One bonus of CSA cooking is that I have learned to cook vegetables with which I was previously unfamiliar (chard, for example, and kabocha squash). A hearty dinner of "beans and greens" (shredded and sauteed kale paired with white beans and a lot of garlic or spring onions) has become a staple. Some farms also offer eggs or contract with local producers to include fresh cheese or even milk in the weekly share.
The concept of Community Supported Agriculture was introduced to the United States from Europe in the mid-1980s and has built in momentum and popularity especially during the past decade, particularly for those living in cities or suburbs without gardens. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, data collected in 2007 indicated that 12,549 farms in the United States reported marketing products through a CSA arrangement.
A CSA share typically is provided weekly, with pickups or deliveries on a designated day and place, or at the farm. One Bay Area farm used to arrange for the weekly pickup at a San Francisco restaurant. You could grab your box and have a cocktail and a chat with the farmer who had brought in that week's haul.
That spirit of community is what motivates Lisa Moussalli, who, along with husband Ali, owns Frog Bottom Farm in Pampin, Va. The Moussallis run a 200-share CSA and sell at two local farmers markets. She said Frog Bottom's aim is to grow "honest, delicious food" and provide families "with most of their staple vegetables, with enough diversity to keep things interesting."
What certainly keeps things interesting is that a CSA share involves a perpetual element of surprise. You don't always know exactly what you're going to get, because while the farm you've signed up with might email or post a potential weekly produce list online, the farmers themselves won't know what's perfect for picking until they're in the fields, which can leave you wondering what the heck you'll do with all those mystery greens. It's almost always an adventure.
Many farms include recipe suggestions for what to do with an abundance of herbs, lettuces, yams or those mysterious greens so you're not left bewildered by how to incorporate them into dinner. The Moussallis include recipes on their website to help customers plan meals around the weekly share. One, for "massaged kale salad," has me rethinking my own approach to the vegetable.
If you want to dip a toe in the CSA experience but worry that you won't use up your weekly vegetables, you could go in with a friend. It's easy to swap and mix and match so nothing gets wasted. Moussalli said a typical share, costing $25 per week, is enough to feed a family of four (Frog Bottom also offers half-shares, as do many farms).
What I love about getting the bulk of my fruits and vegetables through a CSA share is that it challenges me. OK, this week I have a lot of squash and chard, so how I can use them up in interesting ways? Should I bake with the peaches, or just eat them in long, juicy slices? I try to hold off a mad dash to the store to get mushrooms. Maybe I can just do without when I have so many other things from which to choose. Of course, everything tastes so much better when it's eaten within a few days of being picked.
Cooking from a CSA forces me to cook outside my comfort zone, to try new things, to experiment. It also saves me money, because I force myself to cook mainly from the weekly share — augmented with staples such as bread, cheese, beans and dried goods, and the occasional trip to the farmers market — until I use up everything.
Then there is the concept of investment that goes beyond the monetary. I truly care about the farm I've contracted with, and worry whether the spring rains will delay the tomato planting or how a particularly dry summer will affect the overall harvest. For an urbanite such as myself, being connected to a farm brings a bit of the country into the city. It reminds me that there's a vast acreage out there not bound by concrete and tall buildings, helps me to eat with the seasons, and brings home how important it is to know the source of my food.
"In a CSA, all our customers are regulars," Moussalli says. "We really love getting to know people over the course of one or more seasons. ... A strong local food culture, and especially a CSA, is a powerful tool for building strong and caring communities."
The trick to CSA-share cooking is to embrace what you get. Ingenuity is key, and imagination is necessary. Too many greens? Make soup or freeze for later consumption. An abundance of carrots? Pickle 'em. Fruit and tomatoes can be sauced, jarred, canned, turned into jam. And if you're blessed with a pint of just-picked blueberries, eat them slowly out of hand and wonder what will be in your box next week.
Source:NPR
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