The purpose of What’s For Dinner? is to provide you a recipe with items on sale this week, with no more than 10 ingredients (not including pantry items), and coming in at under $10 per meal.
Today we are going to discuss the easiest (and best) way to get cheap organic produce.
Join a CSA.
CSA stands for Community Supported Agriculture. I’ve written about my love of Kansas City CSAs before and I’ve belonged to one for the last few years. They provide great locally grown produce that feeds my family in the summer and winter. (Cause I like to freeze and can.) And nine-times-out-of-ten the produce will be organic – it just isn’t “certified” because the farmer’s can’t afford the certification process.
However, I understand that the concept of a CSA can be scary.
Questions like, “Do I have to work on the farm? Isn’t this just for hippies? Where do I go to pick up my produce? What kind of stuff will they give me?” can come to mind.
So if you are new to CSAs or have questions about which CSA is right for you – I want to share a couple of resources.
Resource #1
Check out localharvest.org. It will provide you with all of the local CSA in your area and their contact information. It also helps you get an idea of the costs and the produce you will be receiving, as well as if you are able to come out to the farm and help with the harvest.
Resource #2
Attend the Kansas City Food Circle Exhibition of Farmers.You will be able to meet many of the local CSA providers face-to-face, as well as discuss their specific programs. It is also a great place to get information about grass-fed beef, ostrich, and range-free chicken.
There are two events coming up:
March 26 – 9:30 am to 2:30 pm at the Roger T Sermon Community Center in Independence, MO
April 2 – 9 am to 2 pm at the Shawnee Civic Center in Shawnee, KS.
Admission and parking are free. And if you are even remotely interested in local and organic produce – this is a great event to really understand the ins-and-outs of different programs.
Resource #3
Read about my experience with last year’s Hen House CSA (I’ve been a member for several years and I will be again this year) in my posts from Good Eats.
I believe that Hen House’s program is the most cost-effective and easiest to use.
- You pick up at the store on either a Saturday or Wednesday.
- You can trade items out. If you don’t like Kale – you can trade for another “equal” item because all items are assigned points and can be mixed and matched.
- It’s only $25 per week and that includes meat, produce and bread. And while it is a bit of splurge for our budget, I have NEVER been disappointed with my items.
- The support local farmers in the area that may be too small to do their own CSA but have amazing quality produce.
Are any of you current or former CSA members? Share your experience in the comments or on the Kansas City Mamas Facebook Page.
thanks for all the information
can you give an example of what one week’s worth from the Hen House CSA might look like?
Michelle – You can look under the Good Eats Category. I took pictures of all of my items. http://www.kansascitymamas.com/category/eating-well/good-food/
Here is an example: http://www.kansascitymamas.com/2010/08/good-eats/
Thanks Kelly!
I love this site- I found great instructions for roasting peppers. Even with the help of the internet I had a giant failed attempted at that a couple of summer ago.
Oh, girl. I’m all about roasting Hatch peppers. Probably going to do a whole case this year.
Kelley,
I’ve pretty much decided to do the CSA this year, but I am wondering when and how to sign up for it? Can you give us some info on that side of things?
Heather – which CSA are you planning on doing?
Nevermind that. I clicked on your link. It looks like most of the info is there. Thanks.
I belonged to Catholic Charities New Roots for Refugees (in Kansas City) and I’m joining again this year. The produce is good and they help refugees start new business with urban farming.
I remember that Ann. You had some fun produce.
I’m also a member of the Hen House CSA and I absolutely love it! It has been such a great excuse to try new produce, and the meat and dairy products (not to mention the produce) just taste so much better.
Stephanie – I completely agree.