Community Supported Agriculture Made Simple – Find One Near You

A recent visit to the East Coast has encouraged me to fully appreciate the veritable plethora of local, organic produce we have in Santa Cruz. It was enough to inspire this comprehensive list of all of the fabulous Farmers Markets and CSAs (community supported agriculture programs) we have to choose from so close to home.

If the CSA/farmshare experience is new to you, I recommend it with minor caveats. Finding the right CSA is a bit like finding the perfect therapist, it’s a weekly commitment that will either enrich your life or make it crazier – one size does not fit all. And since unlike your therapist, a CSA typically requires that you pay-up-front for an entire season, a little pre-sign on research is highly recommended.

All CSAs deliver a variety of fresh locally grown, usually organic foods, offering customers the opportunity to eat seasonally straight from the source – a healthy, earth-honoring option. The fun of receiving a unique selection of fresh picked produce weekly is one of the highlights of these programs. But depending on the source you choose, it can also be more time-consuming, inconvenient and wasteful if not done right. It’s also important to recognize is that a CSA will in all likelihood supplement your normal fruit and vegetable purchase, not replace it entirely – a common misconception.

Here are some easy ways to choose a CSA to best match your lifestyle so your farm share delivery becomes one of the highlights of your week:

• Before you start, monitor a few shopping trips to gauge the amount of fruit and vegetables you use each week. Most farm share are offered in pounds, so knowing how much you typically use will help you to determine what size share to sign up for.

• Determine whether the pick up or delivery schedule offered is truly convenient for you. What are their policies? What happens if you forget to pick up, or you’re planning to be out of town?

• Review the list of produce offered. Most farms can tell you roughly what will be delivered and when. Make sure that at least half of the produce offered is food you eat regularly. It’s reasonable to expect some adaptation to your diet when you start to eat seasonally, but a sudden introduction to too many new foods may leave you more frustrated than satisfied, especially when first you’re starting out.

• Is the produce delivered clean or dirty? Sounds like a funny question, but one worth asking before you wish you had!

• Do they offer recipes or cooking suggestions for the produce they deliver? Many new favorites are introduced through farmers markets, but it helps to have suggestions to get you started.

CSAs are a great way to inspire culinary creativity while supporting local agriculture and with so many local Santa Cruz options, it’s easy to find a perfect fit. Not local to Santa Cruz? Visit localharvest.org for a national directory of CSAs.