Lessons from a Season of CSA

3 Lessons from a Season of Community Supported Agriculture (CSA)

Wayyyyy back in May I signed up for a summer of salad boxes from a local farm. I’ve been hearing for years – and rightly so – that CSAs or other types of ongoing food services direct from farmers are great ways to support the local food system. It’s a nice influx of cash for them early in the season, and buyers are guaranteed a steady supply of locally grown food.

In my case, too steady of a supply.

Don’t get me wrong, I loved trying out new produce, supporting a local farm, and getting to know the worker at their farmer’s market booth where I picked up my bag every week. But there were some hard lessons for me, ones that have made me decide to NOT purchase a CSA or ongoing food box from a farm in the future.

THREE REASONS A CSA IS NOT FOR ME

1. Meal planning backwards doesn’t work for me. I love meal planning, creating grocery lists that fit with the ingredients I’ll need, and combining new and old recipes to fill the week. I learned however, that I cannot do this “backwards”. That is, I cannot get a basket of ingredients, and then plan some meals that fit with these ingredients, and go shopping for the rest. Lettuce was easy, but the fennel, kohlrabi, and piles of tomatoes were more difficult. I was given the option to swap out any item in my bag for a different one on sale at their farmer’s market booth, but honestly I think it was just too much food. Unfortunately, there wasn’t a smaller option.
2. Our food waste increased (a lot). I hate food waste, and yet our household’s amount of wasted food went up up up over the summer, thanks 100% to the CSA box I received every week. A lot of the problems stemmed from reason #2 above. I received ingredients in my salad box that I didn’t know how to use, or I wasn’t confident I would use within the week. We eat a lot of salad…but we didn’t eat enough to make it through all of the items in the bin each week. And having so many fresh items put the rest of my fridge and grocery shopping out of whack.
3. Temptation blew my food budget. The best pickup location for me ended up being a nearby farmer’s market. I had only been in here a handful of times before, and it’s on the way to one of my regular grocery stops, so I thought it would be smart. HAHAHAHAHAAAAAHHHH. They also sell organic sausages, and $8 eggs, and fancy seafood, and bruschetta, and, and and. I thought that I was saving myself some time by doing most of my shopping here, and perhaps I was. But my grocery spending jumped by 50% in September!! Now, not all of that was because of my farmer’s market bills, and much of the produce available there is the same price or cheaper than at a grocery store. But overall the temptation to purchase items outside of my list was too high. I have a hard time remembering what things cost, so even when I thought the price sounded comparable to other stores, it often wasn’t. I love supporting local makers, but we eat a lot of eggs…

Ultimately, I have chosen not to purchase another CSA or ongoing food subscription from a local farm. It just doesn’t work for our family right now.

If I was more organized I could have split the food with another family, picked up the bag early and made swaps, or been more disciplined with my food budget.

But I wasn’t.

It was an expensive lesson this summer, but I’m glad I at least tried it out. I know that supporting local food growers and farmers is a very smart thing to do. The produce we received was always very lovely, and we got to try out some new items. And I had a really great time at the farmer’s market!

PLAN FOR NEXT YEAR

I think we’ve made it clear I won’t be doing another CSA or ongoing food service. But I thoroughly enjoyed the fresh produce I received in my salad box, and I like the idea of getting items from a farmer’s market.

My plan for moving forward is as follows:

• Purchase lettuce and other greenhouse items at a farmers market throughout the winter
• Purchase organic chicken sausages once a month from vendor at farmers market
• Invite friends to join me once a month at the farmers market for lunch and wandering
• Investigate other options for buying groceries that more closely match my values without blowing up my finances

FURTHER READING AND RESOURCES

Reclaim Urban Farm – vendor of my salad box

Bountiful Farmers Market – my pickup location

H&W Produce – my favourite spot for cheap produce

New Grocery Movement – helping to build increased access to sustainable and local food

Earth’s General Store – my neighbourhood grocery store that went out of business in summer 2024 after 33 years serving the community