Be Radical - Eat Local!

For the past three years, I have been part of a CSA group called Mellowbellies. CSA stands for Community Supported Agriculture. I buy shares in the Spring for the rest of the year. Basically, I pay up front before the harvest even begins. The farm is then "insured". If there is a drought, the farm still gets paid. What is most important to me is that I am getting my food from a local farm. My veggies are fresh picked or cut the day that I receive them. In a grocery, the veggies and fruits are coming from where ever the cheapest crop is. That could be across the country or worse across the world. The produce is picked unripe and allowed to ripe on container ships, trucks, and in the store. Yuck.. It really doesn't have that much flavor. CSA's produce is picked ripe and comes locally. So I know the farm that delivers my food, I am eating very nutrient rich produce, and I am getting organic produce. It is important to eat produce soon after you pick it. This ensures you are getting the most vitamins out of it. The only way I can describe it - is that is like having a garden in your own yard. You get yummy fruits and veggies that you can trust. I just don't have to go weed it!

Grant loves veggie pick up. One of my neighbors stores all the boxes on her porch every Wednesday. You can smell the produce from the road. The basil is particularly fragrant. Someone makes an organic snack and leaves it on the porch. Usually, it is banana nut bread or brownies (organic chocolate from Ecuador). Grant LOVES these snacks!! After I pick him up from school, Grant ask "we get veggies today??" Only on Wednesdays! The fun doesn't end with the snack. We then get home and the clean up begins. Our veggies come straight from the garden and dirty. So we fill up the sink and start cleaning. Grant gets out the salad spinner and starts spinning the water off all the produce. He ask me "what's this" "eat raw?" etc. To be honest, sometimes I know exactly what it is....sometimes I have no clue. I have to check out the CSA blog to get an idea! We love our veggies!!! I love the picture we create with Grant and I cleaning and discussing produce on Wednesdays.