Huh. Interesting.
I'm a huge fan of local and sustainable food efforts, which is a big part of why I signed up for a CSA in the first place, but this is taking it to a whole new level. I like.
I can see this "pay someone to garden your plot" idea being especially helpful for restaurants.
Brief excerpt:
In Lincolnshire, another farm has, since January, been taking provenance to extremes online. At i-Grow, Harry Loweth, 26, who farms with his family at Abbey Parks Farm near East Heckington, had the riveting idea of dividing ground into six-metre-square allotments for hands-off vegetable-growers.
From £125 a year, clean-fingered customers choose their vegetables or herbs and Harry will then grow them organically, harvest them and even deliver them to their door.
“It appeals to time-poor city-dwellers with no gardens, to schools who want to teach children where their food comes from, to restaurant chefs who want a reliable supply and to senior gardeners who can’t manage anymore,” he says.
“They’re not a virtual concept, they’re real and so far, we’ve sold 42 plots. You can even arrange to come and visit or you can watch how your crops are performing on the website.”
Source: Food Provenance (Telegraph)
And another (equally as interesting) article with more detail on Harry Loweth's farm + other creative ventures from UK farmers:
The Trend: Click Your Own (FT)
Showing posts with label Why CSA?. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Why CSA?. Show all posts
Tuesday, September 18, 2012
Wednesday, May 2, 2012
Eat Seasonally, Save a Taste Bud!
I thought this was quite clever. So what's a girl to do? Share it, of course!
Adorable Eat Seasonably Calendar*
Why is knowing what fruits and vegetables are in season important anyways? Don't we have bigger things to worry about? Well, yes, I agree. #firstworldproblems...but only because in the "first world," we have the option to eat things out of season. Strawberries in December? Kale in July? Tomatoes year round? Sure, no problem, sounds great. Globalization has saved us...as long as you were born without taste buds. Didn't take me long to discover this.
When I was a young girl, May was positively the best time of the year. May meant the last day of school, beautiful weather...and cherries. All the cherries I could eat. And eat them I did. By the 3lb bag. As soon as cherry season hit, my mom would buy two bags. One for me and one for the rest of my family. I usually ended up eating both bags...
My devotion to cherries was unmatched and probably stemmed from the fact that I knew the cherries would be gone soon. Like a camel at an oasis in a desert, I gorged myself, knowing that in a few short weeks, I'd have no more cherries and one more year standing between me and my next 3lb bag. When I was 5 years old, I didn't know much, but I did know that one year = eternity. It's like 20% of my life!
My parents were poor assistant profs working hard to provide for the family, so while we were comfortable, my parents didn't splurge on unnecessary items when I was a little girl. But as my parents became more established (read: promoted to real profs!), my mom would surprise me occasionally with my favorite treats or a cheery bunch of jonquils or tulips. One late autumn day, I came home from school, peeked in the fridge, and to my surprise, I found a bag of cherries! I knew they were inordinately expensive when they were out of season, which is probably why my mom only bought one bag. With all the instinctive self-confidence that only young children possess, I just knew it was mine. But just in case...
Me: For me Mom? Really?
Mom: Yes, for you. For working so hard in school.
Me: *briefly overwhelmed by eternal gratitude and love, distracted quickly by cherries* (I prefer to remember myself not as being bratty, but rather very excitable with a tendency towards intense concentration on achieving my goals. In this instance, eating my cherries.)
Words can't describe my glee. One year of waiting had magically halved itself. I washed the cherries and squirreled away a bowl to my room, planning to enjoy my spoils in peace and quiet.
The first cherry was a disappointment. It was bland. I chalked it up as an outlier. After all, in a 3lb bag, there were always going to be some reject cherries that were too pulpy, sour, or ugly to be eaten. I tried another. And another. I may not have been the sweetest or cutest child, but I was fairly bright. After three cherries, I realized something was horribly wrong. These were not cherries. These were not even reject cherries. These were imposter cherries. Not only were they not sweet and juicy, they weren't even tart or pulpy. They were just bland and altogether unappealing.
A picture is worth a thousand words. So, The Incident, in picture form:
Picture Re-cap of Cherry Disaster #1
And because I <3 JGL and because 500 Days of Summer is the story of my life right about now, but mostly because I <3 JGL...
Picture Re-cap of Cherry Disaster #2
I looked at the bowl sadly and determinedly forced myself to finish every last, tasteless cherry. My mom made the effort to treat me to one of my favorite fruits and I wasn't about to throw it back in her face. (See? Not a brat. Just very focused.)
This encounter with out of season cherries was traumatic enough to convince me never to touch another bag of cherries until it was cherry season. I learned, through trial and error and induction, that the same rule applies to pretty much every other fruit or vegetable I can think of. The only exception are hothouse cucumbers, because hothouses don't have seasons. Duh.
When I went away to college and had to start buying my own groceries with my own dollars, I realized that finding in-season produce had yet another benefit beyond taste and quality. It's usually cheaper! Double winning :D
Each year that has passed since that fateful cherry incident has not necessarily made me any wiser, but it certainly has made me older. :( But fortunately, I don't think I've gotten (much) stupider. At least I haven't forgotten the In-Season-Produce-Wins lesson. Honestly, buying in-season produce is almost always the best option in a grocery store and it's getting easier to do every year. If you have a smartphone, it's super easy to look up growing seasons for a particular item. Alternatively, just look for whatever's cheaper and looks decent. That's usually a solid indicator of in-season produce. Careful not to buy produce that's on sale for being ugly, bruised and overripe though! Common sense is your friend.
If, tragically, you lack common sense...no fear! The absolute easiest and most foolproof way to get seasonal fruit and veg is...yup. You guessed it. By signing up for a CSA (or by visiting a farmer's market)! The very nature of a CSA/farmer's market means that you should end up with seasonal and super fresh produce. Since these are the two biggest contributors to the taste and quality of produce, I think it's safe to say that if you are lucky enough to find a good CSA with a reputable farm partner, you'll find it hard to go back to the flavorless, grainy, mealy produce aisles of your grocery store. As a final benefit, CSA's are local as well, which means you might be eating greener for the planet too. Whether this is true is up for debate, but hey, at the very least, you're supporting the local economy and helping build a community!
All this talk about seasonal produce and CSA's is getting me super excited. CANNOT WAIT...............here's to hoping the mild weather continues and that our farmers don't get hit by crazy rainstorms or freak frosts. :)
*Caveat: This calendar, though cute, is for the lovely residents in the UK. Which is not where I am. So...I'm using this as a broad guideline with a generous helping of common sense and my trusty phone internetz. At least until my CSA shares start arriving.
Adorable Eat Seasonably Calendar*
Why is knowing what fruits and vegetables are in season important anyways? Don't we have bigger things to worry about? Well, yes, I agree. #firstworldproblems...but only because in the "first world," we have the option to eat things out of season. Strawberries in December? Kale in July? Tomatoes year round? Sure, no problem, sounds great. Globalization has saved us...as long as you were born without taste buds. Didn't take me long to discover this.
When I was a young girl, May was positively the best time of the year. May meant the last day of school, beautiful weather...and cherries. All the cherries I could eat. And eat them I did. By the 3lb bag. As soon as cherry season hit, my mom would buy two bags. One for me and one for the rest of my family. I usually ended up eating both bags...
My devotion to cherries was unmatched and probably stemmed from the fact that I knew the cherries would be gone soon. Like a camel at an oasis in a desert, I gorged myself, knowing that in a few short weeks, I'd have no more cherries and one more year standing between me and my next 3lb bag. When I was 5 years old, I didn't know much, but I did know that one year = eternity. It's like 20% of my life!
My parents were poor assistant profs working hard to provide for the family, so while we were comfortable, my parents didn't splurge on unnecessary items when I was a little girl. But as my parents became more established (read: promoted to real profs!), my mom would surprise me occasionally with my favorite treats or a cheery bunch of jonquils or tulips. One late autumn day, I came home from school, peeked in the fridge, and to my surprise, I found a bag of cherries! I knew they were inordinately expensive when they were out of season, which is probably why my mom only bought one bag. With all the instinctive self-confidence that only young children possess, I just knew it was mine. But just in case...
Me: For me Mom? Really?
Mom: Yes, for you. For working so hard in school.
Me: *briefly overwhelmed by eternal gratitude and love, distracted quickly by cherries* (I prefer to remember myself not as being bratty, but rather very excitable with a tendency towards intense concentration on achieving my goals. In this instance, eating my cherries.)
Words can't describe my glee. One year of waiting had magically halved itself. I washed the cherries and squirreled away a bowl to my room, planning to enjoy my spoils in peace and quiet.
The first cherry was a disappointment. It was bland. I chalked it up as an outlier. After all, in a 3lb bag, there were always going to be some reject cherries that were too pulpy, sour, or ugly to be eaten. I tried another. And another. I may not have been the sweetest or cutest child, but I was fairly bright. After three cherries, I realized something was horribly wrong. These were not cherries. These were not even reject cherries. These were imposter cherries. Not only were they not sweet and juicy, they weren't even tart or pulpy. They were just bland and altogether unappealing.
A picture is worth a thousand words. So, The Incident, in picture form:
Picture Re-cap of Cherry Disaster #1
And because I <3 JGL and because 500 Days of Summer is the story of my life right about now, but mostly because I <3 JGL...
Picture Re-cap of Cherry Disaster #2
I looked at the bowl sadly and determinedly forced myself to finish every last, tasteless cherry. My mom made the effort to treat me to one of my favorite fruits and I wasn't about to throw it back in her face. (See? Not a brat. Just very focused.)
This encounter with out of season cherries was traumatic enough to convince me never to touch another bag of cherries until it was cherry season. I learned, through trial and error and induction, that the same rule applies to pretty much every other fruit or vegetable I can think of. The only exception are hothouse cucumbers, because hothouses don't have seasons. Duh.
When I went away to college and had to start buying my own groceries with my own dollars, I realized that finding in-season produce had yet another benefit beyond taste and quality. It's usually cheaper! Double winning :D
Each year that has passed since that fateful cherry incident has not necessarily made me any wiser, but it certainly has made me older. :( But fortunately, I don't think I've gotten (much) stupider. At least I haven't forgotten the In-Season-Produce-Wins lesson. Honestly, buying in-season produce is almost always the best option in a grocery store and it's getting easier to do every year. If you have a smartphone, it's super easy to look up growing seasons for a particular item. Alternatively, just look for whatever's cheaper and looks decent. That's usually a solid indicator of in-season produce. Careful not to buy produce that's on sale for being ugly, bruised and overripe though! Common sense is your friend.
If, tragically, you lack common sense...no fear! The absolute easiest and most foolproof way to get seasonal fruit and veg is...yup. You guessed it. By signing up for a CSA (or by visiting a farmer's market)! The very nature of a CSA/farmer's market means that you should end up with seasonal and super fresh produce. Since these are the two biggest contributors to the taste and quality of produce, I think it's safe to say that if you are lucky enough to find a good CSA with a reputable farm partner, you'll find it hard to go back to the flavorless, grainy, mealy produce aisles of your grocery store. As a final benefit, CSA's are local as well, which means you might be eating greener for the planet too. Whether this is true is up for debate, but hey, at the very least, you're supporting the local economy and helping build a community!
All this talk about seasonal produce and CSA's is getting me super excited. CANNOT WAIT...............here's to hoping the mild weather continues and that our farmers don't get hit by crazy rainstorms or freak frosts. :)
*Caveat: This calendar, though cute, is for the lovely residents in the UK. Which is not where I am. So...I'm using this as a broad guideline with a generous helping of common sense and my trusty phone internetz. At least until my CSA shares start arriving.
Sunday, February 12, 2012
Why CSA?
First blog post!
I guess it would be appropriate to use my first post to touch on why I started this blog in the first place.
While I've never really been a picky eater, I’ve always been picky about my produce. If it's not fresh, I generally won't touch it. Lately, I’ve become ever more interested in local sourcing, as I’ve long maintained that local produce tends to be fresher and taste better. Farmer’s markets, apple picking trips, and diligent searching through grocery store produce aisles usually worked for me, but after moving to NY and starting a job, I realized that these are time-luxuries that I just can’t afford any more.
Farmer’s markets are generally held during my work hours and they’re not exactly conveniently located either*. The grocery stores and delis near my apartment offer an acceptable collection of produce, but after biting into one too many mealy apples, I gave up on that as well. In my search for a viable alternative, I stumbled upon the world of CSA’s (Community Supported Agriculture). The more I read, the more intriguing I found the whole CSA concept. I decided to give it a try.
However, as I signed up for a CSA, it dawned on me how difficult it had been for me to pull the information I was looking for. Compared to finding a local grocery store, finding a good source of local food was definitely more of a challenge. Plus, not a lot of people know what a CSA even is. I imagine there’s a lot of people out there who would be interested in CSA’s and locally sourced food for a variety of reasons, so I set out to chronicle my own adventures in an attempt to gather more information and put it in a format that might come in handy to someone someday.
In addition, the whole dialogue around local sourcing and CSA’s is fascinating and ever-evolving. I wanted to have a place where I could muse out loud and sort through my own opinions on the many discussions being held in the local food space.
So there it is in a nutshell: this blog is really just my place to ruminate on CSA’s and serve as a place for me to collect information so that I can pass it on to my friends and family should they ever decide they want to know more.
*Or I'm lazy?
I guess it would be appropriate to use my first post to touch on why I started this blog in the first place.
While I've never really been a picky eater, I’ve always been picky about my produce. If it's not fresh, I generally won't touch it. Lately, I’ve become ever more interested in local sourcing, as I’ve long maintained that local produce tends to be fresher and taste better. Farmer’s markets, apple picking trips, and diligent searching through grocery store produce aisles usually worked for me, but after moving to NY and starting a job, I realized that these are time-luxuries that I just can’t afford any more.
Farmer’s markets are generally held during my work hours and they’re not exactly conveniently located either*. The grocery stores and delis near my apartment offer an acceptable collection of produce, but after biting into one too many mealy apples, I gave up on that as well. In my search for a viable alternative, I stumbled upon the world of CSA’s (Community Supported Agriculture). The more I read, the more intriguing I found the whole CSA concept. I decided to give it a try.
However, as I signed up for a CSA, it dawned on me how difficult it had been for me to pull the information I was looking for. Compared to finding a local grocery store, finding a good source of local food was definitely more of a challenge. Plus, not a lot of people know what a CSA even is. I imagine there’s a lot of people out there who would be interested in CSA’s and locally sourced food for a variety of reasons, so I set out to chronicle my own adventures in an attempt to gather more information and put it in a format that might come in handy to someone someday.
In addition, the whole dialogue around local sourcing and CSA’s is fascinating and ever-evolving. I wanted to have a place where I could muse out loud and sort through my own opinions on the many discussions being held in the local food space.
So there it is in a nutshell: this blog is really just my place to ruminate on CSA’s and serve as a place for me to collect information so that I can pass it on to my friends and family should they ever decide they want to know more.
*Or I'm lazy?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)