CSA!

Our community (and my parents!!!) recently signed up for a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) share here in Yakima. This means that for the whole harvest season, from June through October, we will receive a box of fresh, seasonal produce grown at a local farm. CSA shares are great, cost-efficient opportunities to support local farms and cut down on your personal carbon footprint.

Here is the link to find one in your area: http://www.localharvest.org/csa/

A few weeks ago we decided to try to eat all organic for 1 week. We went grocery shopping and we used the $120 we normally spend at Costco every week at a smaller supermarket and came out with hardly any food. Not only that, but the food that we did end up buying, while being organic, was still flown across the world to reach our plate. This has been a heated conversation in our house, because we are at odds about which is more important: organic or local. While organic and local would most likely be ideal, the majority of local farms A. do not have the money to become certified organic and/or B. are in the long, arduous process of becoming “certified”. That being said, organic DOES NOT mean “pesticide/chemical free”, in fact, there are little, or no regulations as to the amounts of these ‘organic’ pesticides and chemicals that certified organic farmers are allowed to use on their produce and in their soil, nor have there been long-term studies showing that all of them are safe and human-friendly. All of this research and super-sleuthing has brought me to the decision that, personally, local is more important than organic, and thus, we are now enrolled in a CSA.



Side note: Training is going well in Casa Grande! This weekend our house pumped out over miles on the pavement in preparation for our half marathon (and Patrick’s full marathon). It is pretty funny now to sit and listen to us chat in the kitchen. Training is an ever-increasing topic of conversation, and we casually talk about our 10 mile runs like they are a leisurely Saturday activity. Three months ago, the majority of us would have been hard-pressed to run 4 miles without serious bodily pain- so this is pretty cool and has been a great way to bond as a house. Three weeks and counting!