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Remodeled 2009

Saturday, April 18, 2009

Community Supported Agriculture

Living in the College Culture neighborhood in Flint has been a lot of fun for Lisa and I the last few years. We have a great neighborhood for going for walks, riding bikes, and access to an awesome library, theaters, and Flint's top notch museums within walking distance or a 60 second drive. One of the other things that I have really enjoyed about living where we do is our proximity to Flint Farmer's Market. Whether looking for some fresh veggies, grains, poultry or looking for a good breakfast spot on a Saturday morning the Flint Farmer's Market has provided a plentiful harvest time after time.

This year we've decided to take our awesome experience to the next level. We are joining our first ever CSA (Community Supported Agriculture). The idea is simple but profound and makes positive impacts on several levels. A family pays for a season's worth of fresh veggies (and other market goodies like eggs, fruits, and grains)in advance and week after week they pick up their "share" of the harvest at local distribution points. For about $15 a week we'll be enjoying organically grown goodness for a price that beats the local grocery store and we won't even have to do the shopping! This system helps farmers with much needed season start up costs and helps families by providing the freshest, in season, locally grown product as possible. The CSA is good for the farmers, the families, and the community. It's nice to know that my veggies didn't have to be sprayed with preservatives and shipped across the country to get to my dinner table.

I am sure we'll be trying some new veggies that I have never even seen before but in the name of health, loving my neighbor, and caring for God's Creation I'm glad to give it a go.

We will be splitting a full share with Lisa's parents. A full share is enough to feed a family with kids or 4 adults. We'll be joining a CSA at a farm in our hometown of Davison just 10 minutes away and will be picking up our share at the Flint Farmer's Market about 2 minutes away. We're using Nature's Pace Oraganics and I can hardly wait to see what arugula tastes like!

To find a CSA in you area visit Local Harvest!

3 comments:

Unknown said...

That's awesome guys! I don't know if I told you guys, but we have a big garden up here at our place. Paul's got a great green thumb and we always enjoy the fresh veggies all summer long. He tries to do it as organically as possible, so that is nice too for us and our children. He's tried lots of different things over the years and we try something new almost every summer. Its great! Enjoy!

Mrs. and Mr. McDoodle-Pants said...

I blogged at least once each week about our experiences with a CSA share last year. You might find it interesting. http://v-is-4-vumpler.livejournal.com/tag/csa

Jason Kotarski said...

Very cool to check out your experience last year, Brie. Thanks for the link. I may have to tap you for some recipes this season since we'll have no idea what to do with a lot of the veggies.