Yes, each Community-Supported Agriculture (CSA) farm has a unique personality archetype and style – just like you are unique? They vary in size, structure, growing philosophy, and many other factors.
Look Inside the Box
The term CSA was coined in the 1980s when back-to-the-land eco-farming first started to take root, and some ardent consumers wanted to support the local farmers directly.
What kind of farm resonates with your archetype- your practical requirements around food and your values?
- The farm as factory, able to boost production by importing chemical pesticides and synthetic fertilizers. In addition, they over-farm the area so the soil is nutrient deficient. Or,
- The farm as a living organism: self-contained, and self-sustaining, responsible for creating and maintaining its individual health and vitality.
Hint: #2 is what feng shui is all about!
The idea of a CSA relationship between farmers and consumers is to by-pass the commercial supply lines and deal directly with each other.
The consumer is buying a “share” of a farm’s output in the form of a weekly or bi-weekly box filled with freshly harvested produce. The membership fee is often paid upfront to help stabilize the farm’s income, and the farmer can take comfort in having a committed set of customers.
The Connection
Now urban and suburban dwellers may connect directly with a piece of rural land of their choice. The kids love to visit the farms, and enjoy eating foods from a piece of land they feel invested in.
Pick up locations vary depending on where you live, or the boxes may be delivered directly to your home or office.
The Rhythm of your Meals
With a CSA subscription, your meals are determined by the local seasonal foods that show up in your box – not the processed foods jumping off the shelves which are filled with additives to make you crave even more unhealthy food. Nor, is it the food flown in from other countries adding to our global warming problems.
Get creative -the life lesson is to be daring & try new things
Each box comes with seasonal recipes to cook quick, healthy family meals. What most people fail to realize is that fresh, quality food doesn’t require a lot of fancy sauces, and cover-ups to make it taste good. The natural flavors simply ooze with tantalizing flavors -so keeping it simple is best! But the key is that you will sometimes be trying new foods that you never gave a chance before.
Cost
Ask -what is the cost of allergies, trips to the doctor, medications, and fatigue from the lack of good nutrition?
Ask- what is the cost of processed foods with minimal nutritional value and high negative additives which enrich the businessman’s pocket, not yours?
Fresh harvested foods may seem to cost more initially, but you will be healthier, filled with more vitality, and hopefully live a longer quality life.
So what’s Inside the Box?
Vegetables are the most prominent source of focus, but depending upon the farm, and the area you live in, other additions may include popular fruits, eggs, honey, flowers, medicinal herbs, and organic body care products.
For the omnivores, the veggie boxes may be augmented with items like duck, pork, beef, lamb, whole chickens, and even goat meat cuts.
Since orders are taken in advance , one seafood company got the requested fish to the customer – within 5 hours!
One of my favorite tiny farms grows open-pollinated heirloom fruits and veges, quinoa, amaranth, apple mint, chocolate mint, popcorn, wheat seeds, fresh Vietnamese mint and fenugeek.
Mother Nature As Teacher
Volunteers are always welcome at many of the farms. In particular, school groups are encouraged to visit so the kids can “encounter and begin to form a relationship with the earth’s life, as expressed by the many different plants and animals that constitute the farm.”
Are you ready? Go to: http://edibleeastbay.com/csaguide
to learn about what food resonates with your personal archetype.
and contact me to help you get your personal archetype in sync with your HOME
