CITY Issue 57

GOING LOCAL CSA INVESTIGATION Join a Community Supported Agricultural program and you’ll be treated to a weekly bushel of farm-fresh vegetables. But with no control over your bounty, you may end up with some puzzling produce in the crisper. To solve even the toughest crop case, finds Hannah Morrill, all it takes is a little culinary cunning. A few summers ago, I worked as a land steward on a small farm in Ve mont whe e we hosted hippied-out envi onmentalist et eats, minded Icelandic sheep, and tended a vegetable ga den so chock full that it could have — had it not been fo a new Mexican-fusion estau ant in town — fed us fo an enti e summe . bountiful ga den is easy to waste without much guilt. If a few tomatoes went ove ipe, I was disappointed, though mostly just annoyed to late step on them; if the lettuce bolted, so be it, I’d al eady had lots of salad; and if the zucchinis g ew to laughably la ge bludgeons, we could just feed them to the chickens. Fast fo wa d a yea : I’d moved to B ooklyn and joined my neighbo hood’s Community Suppo ted g icultu e p og am, o CS , a fai ly new small-scale fa m model whe e consume s pay in advance fo thei weekly vegetables, the ein sha ing the potential isks with the fa me s. Each Satu day mo ning, I dutifully t ekked to the pa k, canvas bags in tow, to pick up my sha e. I ushed home, momenta ily inspi ed to make adish and a ugula sandwiches; a e lunch, I p omptly stuﬀed the le ove s in my f idge, pledging to make eve y last leaf disappea . Come Tuesday o Wednesday, ca tons of sungold tomatoes we e going so and w inkly beside takeout bain an ba tha while once-notewo thy, now unidentiﬁable g eens we e going wet and heavy in the bottom of my c ispe . Wasting vegetables that I had fantasized about as I snubbed the vegetable stands on my block and that had been d iven f om Upstate into the city on my behalf was a lot mo e guilt-inducing this time a ound, especially since at least half of my weekly allotment went f om canvas bag to f idge to t ash. This vision doesn’t make an enti ely compelling pitch to join a CS — but I’m still a membe . Social esponsibility and envi onmental impact aside, the e’s one facto that keeps me coming back: Taste. If you’ e any kind of foodie, the ma ked diﬀe ence in textu e and ﬂavo between even the f eshest Whole Foods p oduce and that f om you CS will make a believe out of you. nd knowing and unde standing just a few things up f ont can help you make the most of it. Fo one, fa m vegetables won’t keep as long as g oce y sto e vegetables, which, even when they’ e o ganic, have been sp ayed with a glossy p ese vative. So, if you know you’ e not going to use seven pounds of summe squash, f eeze it quickly fo soup o b ing it to wo k and sha e with you culina yminded cubicle mates. nd although it would be nice to have a summe full of hei loom tomatoes and ha icots ve ts, most CS s include a va iety of uncommon p oduce. Don’t feel like you have to einvent the wheel with eve y new vegetable you encounte . Most a e just pe fect sautéed with olive oil and sp inkled with salt. ou’ll ﬁ nd, at ight, some of the vegetables that this summe , lessons lea ned, I won’t let ot again. But if a bag of lettuce goes unused, o you neve get to the leeks, t uth be told, ext a vegetables a e pa t of you commitment — that is, sha ing in the bounty of a seasonal ha vest. / / HOW TO PICK A COMMUNITY SUPPORTED AGRICULTURE PROGRAM From your city apartment, almost every CSA website is going to look like the Garden of Eden. But with an estimated 2,500 CSAs throughout the country, all CSAs are not created equal. Erin Barnett, director of LocalHarvest.org, a website that supports farms and local food producers, offers a few tips for selecting the right one: Check out the produce. Most CSA farms also have stands at the farmers market, which gives you a chance to scout out the quality and variety of the produce, as well as the general vibe. “Just like grocery stores have their own personalities, farms really vary from one to the next,” says Barnett. “It’s perfectly reasonable that you’d feel an affinity to one farm over another.” Meet the members. If you haven’t received a word-of-mouth recommendation to join this or that farm, Barnett advises asking to contact a few of the current CSA members before sending in your check. “Members can be more candid than the farmers themselves, and can give you an idea of what to expect,” she says. Ask the right questions — and manage expectations. Whether you’re speaking to the farmers, the members, or the program director, make sure you ask very specific questions. “Many people find they’re overwhelmed by the quantity, and under-whelmed by the variety,” says Barnett. “Don’t expect to have every bit of your produce needs met.” Also ask about various levels of involvement (full shares or half shares), the policy about missing your weekly pick-up, and if the membership requires any hours of co-op-style labor. / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / ///// THERE'S ONE FACTOR THAT KEEPS ME COMING BACK TO CSAs: TASTE. IF YOU'RE ANY KIND OF FOODIE, THE DIFFERENCE IN TEXTURE AND FLAVOR BETWEEN EVEN THE FRESHEST WHOLE FOODS PRODUCE AND THAT FROM YOUR CSA WILL MAKE A BELIEVER OUT OF YOU. 50 CITY TY

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of CITY Issue 57

City Issue 57 Contents Letter from City Our Friends Action Wanted City Moment Temporary Contemporary In Rouge Fast Food The Amused Bouche How We Live/The Kitchen Taste Test Dessert Wine Going Local Expert Opinion Travel Employees Only Summer Showers Wild Things Be There at 10 P.M. Sharp If... Where To Buy It Icon

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