|
Sustainable Solutions #6, April
Looking for the Signs
Greetings fellow eaters.
It's Spring now and we're all looking for the tell-tale signs of it. A tiny crocus poking up through the mat of last fall's debris. Honeymooning bird pairs setting up house in the still bare trees. Top down, window open, air it out Spring.
I've been spending a lot of time on the road this past month--in airports and airplanes, on highways and in hotels--and I've come across a much different type of sign. Everywhere I turned--advertisements, many of them for food. Giant King Kong scalable billboards loomed over the off-ramps. Huge screeching backlit signs papered every available indoor space. Buzzing neon tubes curled into the words "eat here" were, well, everywhere. It's as if, having shed our hunter/gatherer instincts (or at least subcontracted them to Google), we would all surely starve if it weren't for these incandescent totems leading the way.
Such signs cost a lot to produce and maintain. According to Marion Nestle, author of Food Politics, "at the turn of the century food companies spent 33 billion dollars annually to advertise and promote their products." Eaters pay that bill every time we patronize these well-publicized eateries. Which can lead to some scary math. If you take the cost of your meal, subtract the money spent on shipping, distribution, preparation and a sixty-second slot during the super bowl such restaurants are left with very little money for quality ingredients. Well no matter. With an eye-catching logo and enough super sauce, maybe no one will notice.
Ads for real, farm-fresh food aren't going to be plastered on the side of a bus. I found no billboards for "Eat Fresh and Local"--although I am working on a jingle. The growers are in the food business, not the marketing industry. And while some stickers, labels and seals can point you in the right direction, they can't tell the whole story. If you really want to eat well you have to look beyond all of this hoopla and get to the real source of your food. You've got to cozy up to your local farmer. Here's one way. Join a CSA.
A CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) program gives you access to just-picked, fresh off the farm food all season long. Here's how it works. It's sort of like a subscription model--you pay at the beginning of the growing season and pick up, from the farm or a satellite pick-up point, a "share" which is a portion of the harvest as it ripens each week. And now is the time to sign up.
CSAs are gaining in popularity. Many of them fill up well before the growing season begins. Eaters who join a CSA are often delighted not only by the freshness and variety of the food in their share but by the opportunity to become more familiar with the farm and farmers that nourish them and the community created by the program.
Prices and variety range for CSAs so you want to shop around for one that fits your needs and budget. Some CSAs have a work requirement which can be a real nifty way, as it was for me, to get some first-hand knowledge of where your food comes from. Paying upfront can give some eaters a bit of sticker shock, but when you do the math you'll see that CSA shares will save you money over the cost of buying through a third party such as the supermarket, particularly in season.
You can find a CSA near you by visiting http://csacenter.org or http://www.localharvest.org. Many CSAs have websites, so you might want to start there to answer some of the basics and then follow up with any further questions. Below is a little shopping guide to get your dialogue started.
Questions to ask when shopping for a CSA:
How long have you been operating a CSA?
How long is the growing season?
Where/when are the pick-ups?
Is there a work requirement?
What is the cost for the season?
What crops are they planting this year?
What can I expect in a typical share?
What kind of pest management do you employ?
Is everything grown by the farmer or do they contract for portions of the share (such as fruit or flowers)?
If so, what is the name of the contract farmer and do they practice similar growing methods?
Are there any u-pick days?
If there are some items that my family does not care for, do you offer substitutions?
Are there any activities planned for the CSA community?
Is there a newsletter?
Do you offer recipes for unfamiliar crops?
What should I do if I can't make a pick-up one week?
Buying directly from your farmer--whether through a CSA, the farmer's market, or a road-side stand--benefits all involved. More dollars go to the farmer. You get unequalled freshness and flavor. And no one has to foot the bill for a bigger, brighter, billboard. And that's a sign of something significant--change.
Keep it real,
Sherri
Sustainable Solutions may be reproduced in whole or in part by contacting sherri@sherribrooksvinton.com
Click here to sign up for Sustainable Solutions or cancel your subscription.
|
