A little over a year ago, I started subscribing to a CSA box. Every Thursday, Hood River Organic delivers a box of fruits and veggies to my front door. It’s waiting for me when I get home from work. I was inspired to do this after reading Barbara Kingsolver’s book, Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life, which chronicles the author’s adventures in raising/growing her own food. I am far too busy during summer to grow my own vegetables, and I often miss the weekend farmer’s markets because I’m camping or backpacking. Not only that, the farmer’s markets around here end in the autumn and don’t start up again until at least April or May. (In other words, they are closed during the only season when I have time to shop at them!)
Because I wanted a year-round CSA box, that really limited my choices. The vast majority of them only do spring, summer, and fall. When I found Hood River Organic, which not only has a year-round CSA but also delivers to your house, I immediately signed up. You may think it is very “ungreen” of me to sign up for a CSA that’s delivered to me, rather than one that I go pick up at a specified location. Most CSAs require you to come to their farmer’s market booth or a place like New Seasons to pick up your share of produce each week. But that, of course, is always on a specific day and time. That structure really didn’t work with my schedule. I work full-time in a public library, which means I work until 6:00 every weeknight, except one weeknight when I work until 8:00. Because I coordinate programs and events for the library, for which I have to be present, that one late shift each week can vary week to week. Not only that, I work every other Saturday. Working full-time with a fluctuating but inflexible schedule meant that picking up a CSA box on a set day and time simply wasn’t going to work for me.
I have loved getting my weekly CSA box from Hood River Organic. But I was curious what the price comparison would be if I were to buy the exact same items in the grocery store. So I did a little comparison this week. Below is the list of items I received in my box last Thursday:
- 1 zucchini
- 1 leek
- 7 apples (2.75 pounds)
- 5 pears (2.5 pounds)
- 2 green peppers (1/2 pound)
- 3 squash (1/2 pound)
- 2 tomatoes (1 pound)
- 1 sack of carrots (1 pound)
- 1 plum
- 3 beets
- 2 different sacks of mushrooms
- 1 loaf of bread
This morning I went to the grocery store and priced out what all this would have cost if I bought these items there. The grocery store didn’t have port or cantrell mushrooms, so that one was difficult to price. Since mushrooms can be pricey, I’d estimate that the mushrooms I received would retail for a little less than $10. Which means that if I bought everything on that list at the grocery store, it would come out to a little less than $30. Hood River Organic charges $39 per box, so I’m paying approximately $10 more than I would if I just bought this stuff at the store.
Nevertheless, I don’t plan to cancel my CSA subscription. I know that I’m supporting a Pacific Northwest farm and that my produce is organic and local. I’m also eating what’s in season, which is a good thing. (It’s unnatural to eat strawberries in January, I’m sorry.) The food is usually more flavorful too. The plums I bought at the grocery store this morning were pretty bland compared to the big juicy sweet plum I got in my box last week. I’ve also been able to try some stuff that I had never heard of before, stuff that I would never have given a second glace to if I had come across it in the grocery store or farmer’s market. Thanks to my CSA box, I discovered garlic scapes this spring, which made an excellent pesto. I rediscovered plums, which I hadn’t had since I was a child. I learned about mizuna, which went well in salads and in pastas. Thanks to the vast variety of greens I got in the spring, I taught myself how to make homemade salad rolls, which were excellent. And when peppers exploded onto the scene last fall, I learned how to roast them (and what a tasty result that was!).
Every week is a culinary adventure with a CSA subscription. Since I never know what I’m going to get, my dinner menus are improvisational. I often use rice, couscous, or pasta as a base, then add veggies as appropriate. Being a lifetime fruit lover, the fruit is a welcome addition to breakfast or a great mid-day snack at work. I love my weekly CSA delivery and I look forward to discovering new foods and menus in the future!
