The CSA Chronicles: Starting Again

I didn't think I'd be writing my next installment of The CSA Chronicles until I got my first produce box some time in June, but in the last two weeks, something unfortunate has happened to Matonya's CSA. I received the following e-mail from James and Jane, the young farmer-couple who was planning to launch their CSA this summer:

Ashley,

We have some very unfortunate news to share with you. Due to unavoidable reasons, we have lost our access to land on which we had planned to run our CSA this coming growing season. This is becoming a large problem in our country as land is valued in such a way that people wishing to produce real, healthy, local food are becoming more and more unable to do so. We are saddened and disappointed that we will not be able to share with you all that we had hoped for. Fortunately for you, Minnesota has one of the best local food networks in the country and we strongly urge you to join another CSA. Our friends at Easy Bean Farm run a tremendous CSA and we strongly reccommend them. (http://www.easybeanfarm.com/) If they do not suite your needs, there are many other resources to be had. The Land Stewardship project (www.landstewardshipproject.org/) will post its brochure of upcoming CSAs at the beginning of March and this is an excellent resource to compare and decide on which CSA is right for you. Also local harvest is an excellent resource as well. And finally Minnesota Grown (www.mda.state.mn.us/food/minnesotagrown/) will also be compiling its annual brochure for you to choose just what works for you and your family.

Again we are extremely sorry that our commitment has fallen through, but strongly urge you to consider another option. This way of economics, food production, and community building is one of the first steps we as a nation must take in order to see this "change we can believe in." You will be fully refunded for your deposit in the coming week so please watch for that in the mail. And let us know if there is any other way in which we can help you.

Peace, Jane and James

I was very sorry to hear this. It seems to me they lost access to some land they planned to lease specifically for the CSA because someone felt what they produce might not have been as lucrative as what another tenant might produce. I plan on visiting them this summer at the Minneapolis Farmers Market to see what really happened. In the meantime, I did decide to take James and Jane up on their recommendation of Easy Bean Farm and sent my deposit in this weekend. I will report back, both on my CSA adventures and James and Jane's saga. In the meantime, here are the questions I want to explore during my CSA experience:

1.) Will I receive better quality organic food straight from the farm than I do from the organic aisle at Cub? Will it look different? Better? Will it taste different? Better?
2.) Financially, will my initial layout be worth it in terms of the amount of produce I get vs. what I spend at Cub every two weeks. One advantage the CSA has over Cub already, in terms of produce, is that because I shop only once every two weeks, our produce bins have tumbleweeds in them by the time I'm heading to Cub again. Getting fresh vegetables once a week will make a huge difference.
3.) How will it be cooking with vegetables that I am only marginally familiar with? Easy Bean Farm's CSA boxes will contain, among other things, mustard greens, swiss chard, kohlrabi, radishes, beets, pac choi, etc.

Anyway, I'm still terribly excited and look forward to cutting out about six links of the supply chain so that it's just the farmer and me.

The CSA Chronicles: Buying In

Since moving back to Minnesota after eight years in New York, where my kitchen was Fatoosh Falafel in Brooklyn Heights; having a baby, now a toddler, who eats more than anyone I've ever met; and choosing to work from home so I can raise him "by hand", I've had to learn how to cook. It was unavoidable. And to make it more bearable, I have chosen to approach it like a scholar. This is scholarship for me. I've failed many exams; but slowly I have become a fairly decent cook. My soups are bordering on excellent. My baking is unquestionably atrocious. I take what I can get.

This all being said, I've also had to learn how to go grocery shopping. Because of the economic downturn, we have had to switch from my beloved (and uber-expensive) Byerly's to the giant supermarket chain Cub Foods, which, incidentally, has a terrific organic selection, far more extensive than Byerly's. Since my son was born, I've focused, with laser-like precision, on "organic" products: milk, eggs, vegetables, mac-and-cheese, flour, and so on. But like many people, I was inspired by Michael Pollan's In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto to become more vigilant about not just the "how" of my food but the "what": leaves, not seeds. Eat "food". Mostly plants. There's countless reasons to do this, including one very compelling reason, which Pollan drew my attention to in his book: Plants obviously contain huge amounts of antioxidants (are your eyes glazing over already?). However, antioxidants aren't just good for our health because they eliminate free radicals (hang with me!). They also help detoxify the body of dangerous chemicals, including carcinogens! That is, eating more plants can assist in ridding our bodies of toxins we are exposed to unwittingly and against our will. The science: they stimulate the liver, Pollan writes, to produce the enzymes necessary to break down the antioxidant itself, enzymens that, onc eproduced, go on to break down other compounds as well, including whatever toxins happen to resemble the antioxidant. That is--toxins, environmental and industrial.

Add to that my obsession with avoiding pesticides and herbicides, hormones, and antibiotics, and you have the inevitable: a CSA. A CSA, or Community Supported Agriculture, is a model of agriculture that puts the consumer and the producer in close contact. They support small, family farms, and make farming a realistic option for younger farmer types. More practically, it's a way for someone like me to get fresh, organic, locally produced and seasonally appropriate produce for a growing season. I recently ventured out into the culinary outskirts of kale, sunchokes, and turnips, and came back hungry for more (to my surprise), so learning how to cook with produce that is totally appropriate yet seldom seen is very exciting to me. But CSAs sell out fast. I acted early and chose a very small CSA called Matoyna's CSA, partnering with Sleeping Cat Organic Farm. A young couple, Jane and James, run the CSA. I take great pleasure in the fact that while I'll be benefitting hugely from the fruits of their labor, my collaboration with them will help them get a leg up.

Typically, CSA shares run between 16-20 weeks, with a box of produce a week. At the beginning of the growing season, the boxes are smaller, around 7-8 lbs of produce; by the middle and end of the growing season, you're talking 25-30lbs. The produce varies, which makes it really exciting for me. In terms of price, shares can usually be bought in halfs or whole shares. Whole shares range from $400-$700, depending on the CSA you choose, and whether you want free-range eggs or other farm goodies. We chose to do the whole share, paying $100 this month to secure our share (and provide James and Jane some cash to get their crop into the ground), and $400 when we do our first pick-up. It's a big outlay, though incredibly fair, and after doing the math, I realized that I'd be saving money this summer and eating much healthier. What's another two or three editing jobs between now and June to cover the $400 when you're talking about something as wonderful as a CSA?

I'll keep you updated on my CSA experience as the summer progresses. Consider joining your own CSA this summer. Now is the time to sign up; I was too late last year when I went looking in March. Check out Local Harvest for information on CSAs in your area.

Nine Scientists from the FDA Blow the Whistle

"Fundamentally broken." "Failing to fulfill its mission." These charges from nine remarkably brave FDA scientists were outlined in a letter to President-Elect Obama to tell him that mismanagement at the agency has put the country at risk. I always knew there were able scientists somewhere hidden in the labyrinth of lobbyists, former pharma CEOs, and other persons who have no business being anywhere near disinterested science.

What has been one of the sadder elements of the FDA's complete failure in its duty has been the silencing and hamstringing of real scientists. Many of them had to stand by while politics trumped science or while industry's oily tentacles strangled the agency until it gave (BPA, anyone?) Again, from the letter:

"The scientific review process for medical devices at FDA has been corrupted and distorted by current FDA managers, thereby placing the American people at risk...Currently, there is an atmosphere at FDA in which the honest employee fears the dishonest employee, and not the other way around...Disturbingly, the atmosphere does not yet exist at FDA where honest employees committed to integrity and the FDA mission can act without fear of reprisal."

Among the more horrifying, if unsurprising, charges include the following:

• Scientists and doctors have been threatened and told, on occasion, to ignore FDA regulations.

• Devices have not been properly labeled.

• Managers without appropriate experience have been given authority to make final decisions about device regulation and have done so while ignoring serious safety and effectiveness concerns.

• FDA experts have been excluded from product meetings because manufacturers felt that they were "biased."

• Manufacturers have been allowed to market their products without FDA approval.

FDA experts have been excluded from product meetings because manufacturers felt they were biased? Biased, perhaps, because they don't want melamine in baby formula? (Actually, the FDA even caved on that one.) I demand that a list of these manufacturers be published immediately. Nothing on earth could persuade me to give these idiots a single dime of my money. Let's hope this information comes out promptly.

So while these revelations are hard to read about, let's praise the nine unnamed scientists who have put their jobs, possibly even their careers, at risk to plead with our new president to do something to protect disinterested science. They don't go as far as I would, which is to dismantle the FDA and rebuild it from scratch. But part of me wonders if secretly that is exactly what they would propose if they could. Thank you, Nine Scientists from the FDA, for blowing the whistle.

The Recession-Exempt Essentials

Someone recently left a comment on an old post that castigated another commenter for throwing her hands up in despair and asking what does a parent on a budget do in the face of all the bad news about phthalate-laden baby wash and paraben-containing baby lotion and lead-containing toys and chlorine-doused diapers and pesticides in food, and so on and so forth. I can't buy everything organic, she said. I can't always afford Burt's Bees at $10/bottle. The grass-fed beef is beyond my budget. What can I do? The commenter who criticized her asked her to put a price on her child's health and well-being. It seemed to me a hugely unfair comment, and I would challenge anyone to show me a 100% nontoxic household. I believe such a thing is currently impossible because we are surrounded by hidden toxins: off-gassing carpets, radon, lead dust from old paint or even tracked in on the soles of our shoes. And this doesn't even take into consideration the minefield of our food supply and personal products.

Take a deep breath. Reducing exposure is what is crucial, not trying to eliminate everything. Trust me, I've tried. It will drive you to the brink of sanity. I've been there. The problem with trying to eliminate every risk is that the failure to do so is huge and hugely demoralizing, and so we throw our hands up and do far less than we could, simply because we are too discouraged to keep trying. And that's how people with all the money in the world would react. Now what about us real folks who are feeling the recession pinch, trying to make ends meet, and often coming up short? Perhaps you've gone from trying to save a few extra bucks every pay period so you can get organic food on the table to just trying to get food on the table, period. With this in mind, I wanted to offer a list of what I consider to be the Recession-Exempt Essentials: products that I believe one should figure out a way to buy regardless of almost any financial circumstance. (Obviously if you are living below the poverty line, such a list is ridiculous.) That being said, as a caveat, I do agree in spirit with our commenter: we should not have to pay for safe products, but we do. In theory, and in practice as much as possible, I believe parents should do everything possible to provide safer products for their children. But we live in the real world, so here are my top six lists.

Recession-Exempt Essentials for Parents
6.)Organic apple juice: apples contain the most pesticide residue of all fruit.
5.)Paraben-free diaper wipes: Seventh Generation, Pampers Sensitive, Costco's Kirkland brand
4.)Safe baby wash: Burt's Bees, California Baby, etc.
3.) Organic baby food: Earth's Best has a very affordable line, especially at Whole Foods
2.) Organic milk
1.) BPA-free bottles and sippy cups

Ashley's Personal No-Compromise Item: PBDE-free, non-vinyl crib mattress: I would have turned tricks on the side of the road to make sure I had the money for this item, as my best friend would say. The No Compromise crib mattress is pricey at $240-$300, so I acknowledge that it can't make the top five for everyone. But for me, I took on extra jobs to set this money aside. I consider it that important. (Search the blog for crib mattress to find my other posts on this)

Recession-Exempt Essentials for Pregnant or Nursing Moms and Women of Child-Bearing Years
6.)Organic fruit
5.)Grass-fed, hormone-free beef OR go veggie during pregnancy and nursing
4.)Safe face wash and body soap: again, too many to list.
3.)Mercury-free mascara: Jane Iredale mascaras, for example.
2.)Organic dairy products
1.)Paraben-free lotions: Parabens are hormone disruptors and just evil in general. There are too many paraben-free lotions to list, thank God. A simple search will yield hundreds. But please scour your lotion ingredient list for any of the parabens and discard if you find any. Don't be fooled by "gentle" sounding names.
Ashley's Personal No-Compromise Item: This is a bit of a misnomer because I give up in despair from time to time, but at least when you're pregnant: safe deoderant. That means no aluminum. I fall off the wagon from time to time because I have tried countless brands of co-op, Whole Foods-type non-aluminum-containing deoderant and I still end up smelling like I just baled a field's worth of hay within two hours.

Oh, there are so many more "essentials" for women in this category. I am forever threatening my youngest sister with severe beatings if she continues to go into Sephora and load up on phthalate and paraben-loaded cosmetics. But the truth of the matter is that truly safe cosmetics are expensive in comparison to the easy drug store brands.

I'd love to know what other folks' essentials are. This is a completely subjective list. The more information we have, the better.