5 Reasons Why You Should Drop Everything and Sign Up for a CSA Right Now

If you’ve been following the site for a while, chances are you’ve heard me preach the merits of the neighborhood CSAs that are popping up all over the city.  Well, if I was excited about it a few months ago when I signed up for my first season of the Ditmas Park CSA, then I’m totally enthralled with it now.

Now, for those of you aren’t totally familiar with the concept of Community Supported Agriculture, here’s the 411:  It’s a pretty new model for farming and food distribution.  The way it works is pretty simple, with a group of local community members getting together and basically pledging to support a local farm, which they then become “shareholders” of.  It’s a less-risky model for the farmer and gives them a closed market of buyers.  The community members, on the other hand, get fresh, locally grown and in-season produce.  Instead of buying produce from a supermarket where you may or may not be eating food that was grown with pesticides, you know exactly where your food is coming from and under what conditions it was grown.

I just got my first share of vegetables today, and I am officially in love with the program.  But before I go off on my pro-CSA speech, here’s a comprehensive list of every single CSA located in the five boroughs.  There are 80 of them.

1.  Fresh, Fresh, Fresh Food.

Anyone’s who’s ever met me knows that I am about the most unlikely chef on the planet.  I have absolutely zero patience for food prep, cooking, and cleanup.  I hate the process and will attempt to validate any reason for eating out whenever possible.  However, after getting a box full of radishes, fava beans, an unruly bunch of lettuce, and honestly, something that looked like a cross between a potato and a parsnip (I’m still not sure what it is, but it looks good), plus a bunch of other veggies, I’m feeling something that I’ve never felt before.  There’s something about having lots of yummy smelling, glistening produce in my fridge that makes me want to whip up something crazy.  Like I did this morning, with an egg, some fresh radishes, and green onions.

[Ed. Note:  The gold trimmed plate was picked up at Housing Works for $1.]

2.  You’ll Meet New Neighbors

I know a decent amount of people in my neighborhood, which has been a first in my six years of living in New York.  In most of my other neighborhoods, I was lucky if I was acquainted with the person across the hall from me.  Now I have a small network of people I can call up at any time to meet up with for a drink at the bar down the street or for a late night coffee and dessert.  But I digress.  Back to the CSA, I met two new neighbors this morning while they divvied up my goods, and I got to chat it up with the farmer (Jorge) who grew my groceries.  Say what you will, but I like being acquainted with the person who grows my food.  It feels safe — especially after watching three documentaries on the food industry this weekend.

3.  You’ll Be Forced to Try Things You’d Have Never Bought on Your Own

I enjoy trying new food, I really do.  But go grocery shopping with me, and I will buy the same crap over and over again.  Hummus?  Check.  Salsa?  Check.  Two boxes of wheat thins?  Check.  I have no problem admitting that my routine is lame.  Anyway, with this pickup I was given a bag of fava beans.  I’ve eaten fava beans before, but throw me in a supermarket with a display of fava beans and I’d never purchase them in a million years.  Why?  They’re foreign to me.  I don’t know off the top of my head how to prepare them or what to serve them with.  But now I have them, and for fear of wasting them, I’ve gotta do something with them.  So, sometime this week, I’ll be visiting www.allrecipes.com to figure out what I can throw together with these things.  Being forced to be adventurous with your food?  Excellent.

4. You Will Save Money.  Period.

Okay, nothing against the Flatbush Food Co-op.  It’s a very nice supermarket with lots of interesting products, but it’s expensive, as are most food co-ops.  After a recent trip there a few weeks ago, buying some turnips, other vegetables, and a few miscellaneous spices, my bill came out to a shocking $40.  Fast forward to today, I was handed a box about the size of a 6-pack of beer full to the brim with around 25 vegetables (not including the bunch of fava beans and a half carton of eggs), which is costing me approximately $16.75/ each week. [I paid $335 up front for approximately 20 weeks of food - depending on how long the season is]

Now when I take my weekly trek to Whole Foods, my shopping list will be seriously slashed and will most likely consist of a bag of spinach pasta (around .99 each), a loaf of 7 grain bread (around $5), a box of rice ($2), a few miscellaneous fruits ($4) and the occasional salad dressing.  This means instead of spending $250 a month on groceries, I’ll be spending on average $135/month.  That’s $1,380 a year in savings!

5. You’re Supporting Agriculture, not Agribusiness

What is agribusiness?  Agribusiness is “is a generic term that refers to the various businesses involved in food production, including farming and contract farming, seed supply, agrichemicals, farm machinery, wholesale and distribution, processing, marketing, and retail sales” (via Wikipedia).  In layman’s terms, it’s corporate farming.  If you’ve ever seen documentaries like Food Inc., The Future of Food, or even Super Size Me, then you know how harmful the mass production of food can be.  If you’ve never seen these movies, I dare you to watch them and then try to eat a Big Mac.  Like I mentioned earlier, buying your produce from local farms ensures that you’re not eating food that’s been treated with all sorts of pesticides and god knows what other types of chemicals that agribusiness typically treats their food with.

If I said I was writing this from an impartial mindset, I’d be lying.  I absolutely love having fresh food in my diet.  I can’t say for sure yet, but I’m willing to bet that I’ll be seeing improvements in my weight, mood and general health in the coming months.  There have always been benefits to eating fresh and in-season, but with the plethora of CSA options that we have in NYC with the local farms upstate, there have never been so many benefits to joining up with a local program.  CSAs are shattering the idea that it’s costly to eat good, wholesome food, and that’s great news for a nation that has a serious and growing problem with obesity, diabetes and heart disease.  So to sum it up, the food is fresh and delicious, you build new relationships with your neighbors and the farmer who grows your food, you’ll introduce new foods into your diet, you’ll save a crapload of money, and you’re supporting local farms.  Simply put, it’s cheap and it’s healthy.  Do it.

Recession-Proof Activities: Part II

The recession continues. In these tough financial times, penny-pinching is essential, but that doesn’t mean you can’t live it up. We’ve once again rounded up some of our favorite low-cost activities (you can find our original recession-proof list here) that are sure to bring a few smiles while keeping the debit card in pocket.

1. Chuckle It Up at UCB Theatre: The recession is taking its toll on Americans pretty hard, so why not get out for a few giggles? UCB Theatre, a staple of New York’s comedy scene, hosts “School Night” where those in dire needs of laughs can take in new, experimental improv, sketch comedy, and stand up for absolutely zero dollars. That’s right, zero, zilch, nada. The one caveat is that it tales place at 11PM on a Wednesday night, but hey, many of us aren’t waking up for work on Thursday morning anyway.

2. Get Your Game-On With Gametap: Thanks to the breakthrough success of the Nintendo DS and Nintendo Wii, gaming has expanded its scope beyond basement-dwellers to bring joy to the mainstream. With so many new gamers on the scene, we suggest checking out some of the classics courtesy of Gametap (compatible with both Mac and PCs). Although the meat of the Gametap’s library reserves are available only to subscribers, there are awesome freebies like Bubble Bobble, Final Fight, King of the Fighters ‘96, Metal Slug 2, Neo Turf Masters, and Street Fighter II: Champion Edition. Please note: some of the free titles are siphoned into Gametap’s premium area, so the content may vary from month to month.

3. Watch Public Domain Movies: Remember those old, campy black ‘n white monster double features that you used to watch on weekends as a kid? Many of them have fallen into public domain and are available as free downloads from moviesfoundonline.com. There you’ll find cult classics like Carnival of Souls, Attack of the Giant Leeches, House on Haunted Hill, Hercules vs. The Moon Men, and more. Take that, iTunes!

4. Read Some Books…Google Books, That Is: When Google Books Search fist launched a few years ago, it came under heavy fire from publishers who didn’t want their content available online for free. Fast forward to the present, and Google and the various publishers are working hand in hand to deliver loads of good reading to you for free. There are many sample chapters of books currently on the market so you can try before you buy (or hit up your local library). One of the best aspects of Google Book Search is the deep back catalog of magazines: you can read full issues of Baseball Digest, Jet, Prevention, and other ‘zines that have a few years age on ‘em.

5. Join the Secret Science Club: The Secret Science Club is a free science lecture and arts series, that’s open to the public. The high-end geek gathering meets the first Wednesday of every month in the basement of Union Hall in Park Slope, Brooklyn.  Their website has a long list of interesting past speakers like Leslie Vosshall, Neuroscientist at Rockefeller University and Paleoanthropologist, William Jungers.

6. Sit In On Barnes & Noble’s Author Readings: Every month B&N has authors that come in to promote their newest books by holding readings, Q&A sessions, and signings — all for free.  For instance, John Grisham will be promoting his latest novel “The Associate” on January 27th at 7pm at the Union Square Barnes and Noble.  You can check out your hood’s calendar here.