It only costs the equivalent of six lattes a week to get your hands on a bounty of the freshest, most locally grown veggies in Toronto. This is Young Urban Farmers CSA's second year growing food in backyards in the Wychwood, Lawrence Park, and Riverdale neighbourhoods, and it's going to be a great season. I've already told you how thrilling it was to receive and cook with veggies grown minutes from my home (especially considering I don't have a garden of my own), and I've alluded to my rewarding volunteer involvement with YUF CSA; now it's time to fit you into this picture. I am shamelessly advertising this great opportunity because I've benefited so much from it and really want to see the organization thrive.
What do you get? Only the tastiest GMO-free, organically grown heirloom varieties of leaf lettuce, spinach, swiss chard, kale, broccoli, radishes, beets, carrots, leeks, garlic, spring onions, shallots, tomatoes, bell peppers, hot peppers, eggplant, beans, peas, zucchini, summer squash, cucumbers, and herbs. Southern Ontario simply overflows with food in the summer months; why would you want to buy imported veggies trucked in from far away to the supermarket? Even a farmer's market can't beat this freshness - you take home your share mere hours after it was harvested, often in the very same garden it was grown in.
Support your health, the environment, and the local economy by investing in YUF CSA today. If you don't live in Toronto, please pass this on to those you know that do, and click here for a list of CSAs in Ontario.
Do you own a share in a CSA? If not, what's holding you back?
I do love Ontario summers... so much good stuff grows within minutes of where I live! Although I will admit to being a bigger fan of berries (strawberries are perhaps the best thing on Earth, and blueberries are a very, very close second) to veggies, there's still something deeply satisfying about eating something that's been harvested less than an hour ago!
ReplyDeleteIndeed, when Ontario fruit is in season, I'm a little less excited about vegetables. But going to a pick-your-own berry farm involves an hour-long drive, whereas my CSA pick-up is five minutes away by bike!
ReplyDeleteOver the past year, I've been very tempted to join a CSA. There's a non-profit organic farm less than 10 miles away from me, which would sure lower my food miles. I guess I haven't because I am bad about letting food (especially if I don't know how to cook it, or if it requires ingredients other than my staples) wither and die in my fridge. So while on one hand, it would be fun to try to figure out what to do with Jerusalem artichokes, the odds are not great that I'll actually have time or energy to do so before they go bad. I'm not great at planning ahead, so I tend to buy what I need for two or three meals at a time, no more. Having no control over what comes in a CSA box...I'm not ready for that yet. I think there is a CSA further from me that lets you choose what you want from weekly lists. That would be worth looking into.
ReplyDeleteI think that second option sounds like a good fit for you, and I've heard about setups like that here, too. It makes a lot of sense, because one person's "trash" vegetable is another person's "treasure" vegetable! Let us know if it works out.
ReplyDeleteI love the idea of joining a CSA, especially since I like to learn how to cook with different vegetables than I may be familiar with. A good friend of mine worked on a farm and once brought me a big box of colrabi as a housewarming present, that was a fun challenge, I'd never even heard of it! but so far cost of joining any of the CSAs in my area has been holding me back. I am on a very tight budget, and find myself throwing away produce sometimes already, since i can't buy small enough portions at the store often to use everything before it goes bad. If I lived with someone who could share with me in both cost and the food delivered I would definitely consider it, but all of my roommates have seemed uninterested/are on tighter budgets even than I am. Someone new will be joining our house in august, maybe that person will be interesting in splitting a box for next year...
ReplyDeleteI have an idea for you Hannah: poll your friends to see who would be interesting in "sharing the share", as it were. You could get together once a week and cook a big meal with whatever comes in the box, then split up the leftovers. Share the cost, share the food. Or would that be too complicated if everyone has different schedules?
ReplyDeleteI have a friend that shares the share, one box every two weeks. It works!
ReplyDeleteWell there you go! There are lots of ways to make this work.
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