Considering Community Sustained Agriculture As A Means Of Weaning My Toddler Off Hotdogs
My little Bean is a persnickety eater to say the least. I say Persnickety because some days she will literally eat nothing but hotdogs and other days nothing but fruit, which has me thinking about checking out community sustained agriculture.
I know that it is up to me to get healthy meals into her and I swear I fight back against the hotdogs but when she refuses meals until late afternoon that mom paranoia takes over as I just “know” she is on the brink of starvation and I give in and head for hotdogs. To appease my guilt, I am at least splurging on ridiculously priced organic hotdogs that are not made from the really disgusting stuff, but still, her menu needs a bit of variety.
I know that it is up to me to get healthy meals into her and I swear I fight back against the hotdogs but when she refuses meals until late afternoon that mom paranoia takes over as I just “know” she is on the brink of starvation and I give in and head for hotdogs. To appease my guilt, I am at least splurging on ridiculously priced organic hotdogs that are not made from the really disgusting stuff, but still, her menu needs a bit of variety.
Now admittedly, until last week I had never even heard of CSA or (community sustained agriculture) which is rather shocking considering that I live in quite the farming county. So when a friend suggested it after the Bean literally plowed through a weeks’ worth of fruit in less than half a day, I looked into it.
I found that a farm near by that is just such a co-op and now I can’t get the idea out of my head. You see you pay around $600 in the early spring and then you simply drive to the farm each week for your share of the crops (and from looking at sample shares it is quite abundant) from May till November. My first concern was that $600 seemed like quite a bit to drop for fruits and veggies but when I did the math, I figure I spend at least that on produce over the summer between the grocery stores and farmers markets that I frequent all summer long.
My second concern was the sample lists. My family is not exactly daring when it comes to vegetables. I mean, I had to google Rutabaga and then when I saw rhubarb, well yuck. I’ll take double the rutabaga if I can skip the rhubarb. My grandmother used to make rhubarb jelly (which honestly tasted like strawberry) yum and rhubarb pie, which well, not so yum. So the idea of picking up a pile of rhubarb (when I know full well it will not become jelly) seems like a waste. I feel like my grandmother only dealt with that annoying weed because well her generation wasted nothing and I am not trying to be wasteful but that rhubarb will end up on the front lawn with a “free” sign and when it is still there a week later I will direct my husband to mow it over.
On the other hand maybe this is the time to learn to appreciate new vegetables and recipes like I am always saying I want to. Maybe this is a way to begin a tradition of sustainability that I can pass down to my Bean. Maybe this is a chance to put my money where my mouth is when it comes to green parenting. Maybe it is a way to finally realize that my black thumb is not going to ever produce a crop beyond a few peppers for summer salsas.
I found that a farm near by that is just such a co-op and now I can’t get the idea out of my head. You see you pay around $600 in the early spring and then you simply drive to the farm each week for your share of the crops (and from looking at sample shares it is quite abundant) from May till November. My first concern was that $600 seemed like quite a bit to drop for fruits and veggies but when I did the math, I figure I spend at least that on produce over the summer between the grocery stores and farmers markets that I frequent all summer long.
My second concern was the sample lists. My family is not exactly daring when it comes to vegetables. I mean, I had to google Rutabaga and then when I saw rhubarb, well yuck. I’ll take double the rutabaga if I can skip the rhubarb. My grandmother used to make rhubarb jelly (which honestly tasted like strawberry) yum and rhubarb pie, which well, not so yum. So the idea of picking up a pile of rhubarb (when I know full well it will not become jelly) seems like a waste. I feel like my grandmother only dealt with that annoying weed because well her generation wasted nothing and I am not trying to be wasteful but that rhubarb will end up on the front lawn with a “free” sign and when it is still there a week later I will direct my husband to mow it over.
On the other hand maybe this is the time to learn to appreciate new vegetables and recipes like I am always saying I want to. Maybe this is a way to begin a tradition of sustainability that I can pass down to my Bean. Maybe this is a chance to put my money where my mouth is when it comes to green parenting. Maybe it is a way to finally realize that my black thumb is not going to ever produce a crop beyond a few peppers for summer salsas.
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