Where do you get your produce? Or rather, how far does it travel to get to you? Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) is becoming more and more popular as consumers become more aware of these questions.  CSAs provide high quality, organic, locally farmed produce to consumers, support local farms, and reduce costs for both farmers and consumers by cutting out the middle man.

A friend in San Francisco raved about Farm Fresh To You (FFTY) and how they delivered a wonderful mix of seasonal fruits and vegetables to her door every week.  I instantly fell in love with the idea.  I had become busy with work and did not have enough time to go to the market.  At the same time, I had become more obsessed with food and wanted to work with what was in season.  But whenever I walked into a supermarket, I always ended up with the same veggies and fruits, and I stayed away from the organic produce because it was more expensive.  Once I signed up for FFTY, however, I’d get whatever was in season — all organic — and it became a great way to force myself to start working with more unfamiliar produce.  I still remember the day I pulled leeks out of the box and thought to myself — What am I supposed to do with these?

That’s why some CSA’s like FFTY make sure to include a weekly newsletter with recipes for some of the items in the delivered box.  Harvest Moon Farms, servicing Chicago, takes it one step further and provides not only recipes by a professional chef, but cocktail recipes and pairings as well as wine pairings by LUSH Wine and Spirits.

If you wanted to get even more local, Seattle MicroFarm brings the farm to your back yard.  They create, maintain, and cultivate a MicroFarm for you, visiting weekly to harvest your crops for you.

Whether it’s the convenience of delivery, fun cocktail pairings, or urban microfarming that ultimately draws you in, take comfort in knowing you are helping to create a sustainable food system that reduces carbon emissions from trucking and flying in food from large distances.