More CSA...

I wrote this blog for Belly Sprout but since it has a little more info on CSA's I figured I would post it here as well.

You just can't get any better than fresh harvested local organic produce! And by purchasing farm direct and paying seasonally you are helping these smaller farms stay in business and sway the market towards buying more local or more organic as well as supporting our local economy. BUT BEST OF ALL is the AMAZING prices we are paying for our baskets!!!

As a quick example from our baskets, let me give you an idea just how much we are saving. For a large basket are getting about 40 lbs of produce for $38 per basket that's $.95 per pound! for organic produce. Unheard of, really!

Now you may possibly be thinking well the produce I get a Whole Foods (or wherever you shop) is so much prettier! Well YA! It's been sorted to meet supermarket "beauty standards" and washed and labled and shipped and refrigerated. This is another way we are helping our farmers. Did you know that thousands if not millions of pounds of fresh completely edible but not so pretty produce gets tossed out because it doesn't meet the beauty standards? And did you know that farms LOSE all that money they would have made if we didn't expect pretty produce? Essentially we are talking about getting the same stuff as the markets only it doesn't pass the "pretty test." Hey, I'll take a melon for less than half the price that's just as edible but not as pretty!

Some might be worried about the fact that the fruit looks a little worse for wear or the beets look inedible. I want to assure you that ALL the food that you get from the farm should be completely fresh picked that day or the day before. The black stuff on the beets is completely fine, as per the farm: "They aren't super pretty today, but please don't judge them by their skin. They are perfect on the inside. Just boil, cool and then peel off the skin. As it gets hotter and hotter, the greens start to suffer, but the beets are still awesome."

Just remember you are getting FARM FRESH produce not factory direct.