community supported agriculture

long beach farmer's market
Originally uploaded by bluepupae.

browsing the web, i happened upon some information at the local harvest site about community supported agriculture. basically, you commit to a time period like 6 or 12 months where you prepay on a weekly, monthly or annual basis for a weekly pickup of a box of produce consisting of fruits and/or vegetables to support a local farm. each participating farm has its own arrangement that can run from $15 - 50/week for a box that may be big enough to feed a family of 3 - 4. many offer organic produce, so it's very reasonable considering we spend about $100 a week on groceries. yes. that sounds crazy when there's only two of us.

reading about the industrial farm complex both regular and organic in michael pollan's omnivore's dilemma has made me more reflective on where food comes from and how that impacts not only my own well-being but that of the environment, prompting a desire to do something about it. then there was the nova episode the other night on marine mammals. seriously, watch the cutest baby seal dying or having to be euthanized because of human impacts to ocean ecology, and you can't help but want to do something. i'm not an activist, but i can make personal choices.

the community supported agriculture program is a long-term commitment that is especially difficult to consider due to the current state and future uncertainty of the economy. some require prepayment, and the closest pickup points would be in LA or OC. neither are far, but neither are as convenient as the whole foods or farmer's market. you also don't get to choose what goes in the box. the farm chooses based on what's in season. on the one hand, you may not get to cook what you want when you want to. on the other hand, you would be forced to be more creative in your cooking to accommodate seasonal, local food.

it sounds like a great idea. our local farmer's market only has a small percentage of organically grown produce, and whole foods is entangled with the organic industrial complex, which though not as bad as regular farming has its issues and impacts to soil & environment. the more i learn about food, how it's cooked, cultural traditions, where it comes from, the more small scale, local farming makes sense.