You might not have thought about reducing food waste when you signed up for a CSA, but together we can make a huge difference! While we usually run farmers markets as well as our veggie bag program, this summer the vast majority of what we can grow is being distributed thorough your bags.
While eating direct from a farm saves all the waste generated by grocery stores and distributors, I've noticed a big difference in our fridge here at the farm. We are able to list exactly how many of each veggie we have available, and see them go out the door. With markets we harvest on speculation - an average day we sell so many bunches of chard, so we harvest them. If we don't happen to sell all of them on a given day we bring them home, and many of our veggies loose quality on the market table and are no longer able to be sold. If I had left that head of lettuce in the field, it would have been perfectly good to harvest the next day fresh for someone! We print out a customized harvest sheet each day, so we bring in exactly the number of bunches that you've ordered. We're able to keep our "overstock" safe growing in the fields until it is ordered by someone ready to eat it. It's a side of "harvested just for you" that you probably didn't think of!
Have you noticed a difference in your fridge this summer? By using preferences and customizing your bag, I hope we are able to prevent veggies going bad in your fridge too. Part of the fun of CSA programs is trying new veggies. I like to say that if there's a vegetable you don't like, you probably just haven't found a way to cook it that you like! If you're not feeling adventurous one week, you can just swap out anything that doesn't inspire you. If you have dietary restrictions (or dislikes) you can set your preference to "not for me" and we won't put it in your bag. There are recipes and cooking tips at the bottom of your e-mails, and if you're ever stumped, don't be shy to send me a message and I'll send you some cooking ideas :)
Thank you all for ordering ahead with us to help reduce waste, every vegetable we grow deserves to be enjoyed!
This picture is Kelly and Marina tidying up the greenhouse - we had a fungal disease start to spread on the lower leaves of our tomato plants, so the team went in to take out all the diseased leaves last week. I'm hoping the plants can recover and keep producing into October like last year!
