Community Supported Agriculture

Community supported agriculture (CSA's)  are a growing and healthy trend nation wide.  It is a way for people to buy local, seasonal food directly from the farmers.  In a CSA, farmers sell shares of the upcoming seasons crop.  The shares can be in the form of a one time payment, a monthly payment, or a weekly payment.  In exchange for buying shares, consumers get a weekly delivery of fresh, local, and often organic farm products.  These products are mostly vegetables, but can also include fruits, dairy products, eggs, and meats.  CSA's have grown in popularity in recent years as people have become more health and environmentally conscious.  They fill up fast and most are selling shares this time of year.

These CSA's have many positives for the farmer, the consumer, and society as a whole.  The farmer is able to improve cash flow just before the planting season and is able to plan crops based on demand of consumers.  Farmers are also able to develop a relationship with the customers who consume their products. 

Consumers benefit in many ways as well.  First and foremost, you receive the freshest, most nutrient dense foods available.  Much of the grocery store produce is picked well before it's peak ripeness and shipped miles and miles to consumers.  Nutrients begin to break down as soon as produce is picked.  Consumers are also exposed to new vegetables that they may have not tried in the past and with that comes the challenge of finding ways to cook them.  The cost of a CSA is high up front, but averaged out over the season, usually comes out cheaper than grocery store produce and with so much more nutrients.  The average CSA weekly share from April to November will deliver 300lbs of fresh produce a season and cost anywhere from $300 to $500 dollars or $1 to$1.60 per pound. The relationship piece is important on this end as well.  Consumers are more connected to the food they are putting in their body and where it comes from.  I like reinforcing that with the kids and hope to make a trip to the farm this year so they can see where their food comes from.

Here is a link to CSAs in Maryland.  There are many quality farms just across the border in Pennsylvania as well.

We are still researching, but plan on signing up for one that offers vegetables, eggs, and grass fed meat.

We were turned on to South Mountain Farms by our friends.  They are similar to a CSA, but run year round and offer front door delivery of vegetables on Wednesday's in our area.  This is perfect for us as we tend to run out of vegetables right about then.  We are going to order their medium box.  Another benefit of South Mountain is that you have some say in the produce you get each week.  You are given a list of what is available and can chose from that.

Consider joining a CSA this year and enjoy the benefits of farm fresh produce each week.  For those that still want to rely on the grocery store, I came across this helpful flow chart to help you navigate your way to real food.

Post Challenge Check In

It has been two full weeks since the end of the 30 day challenge, how is it going?  Did you slip effortlessly back into your old ways of eating or have you made significant, lasting, changes to your life?  We waited until that first Friday to try pizza and wine and neither lived up to the expectation.  I(Paul)ate and drank too much of both and predictably felt like crap on Saturday.  We enjoyed a date night at P.F. Changs where we did not worry about what we ate(still did not eat the rice), and had some tortilla chips at a pre-Superbowl get together.  We have also enjoyed a glass of wine here and there.  Other than that it has been clean eating the rest of the way. 

I am training for a run in early March and find that drinking wine and eating poorly messes with my sleep and screws up recovery from workouts.  Dawn is hyper sensitive to any variations to her eating so it just works better for us to stay on "the plan"(as my Nana calls it) all the time.

We have been quiet on the blog, but no less busy.  Dawn has her hands full with a couple of new clients who are pumped to work hard and reach their health and fitness goals.  It is motivating for both of us to get new people, as it makes us think about what we do and how we do it.  I am attending a Functional Movement Screen workshop this weekend and excited to see how what I learn can help my students at school as well as our clients.  We all got to hang out with my brother and his family a few times while he was home from Afghanistan the past 14 days.  He is flying out today.  Have a safe trip Jason and stay safe.

Let us know about you.  What have the past two weeks been like?   Are you going strong and feeling great?  What was your first post challenge cheat like?  All that you expected, or a disappointment?  Do you not notice any difference now that you have reintroduced some of your old foods back into the mix? (it has happened)  Did Valentine's Day throw a wrench into your clean eating plans?  Leave us a comment and let us know.  We will be back with regular posts this week and are already planning our next, pre-summer, challenge.