A Winter's Share
Recently on BuffaloRising.com, YUM Editor Christa Seychew posted an article (with a great picture of smiling bologna, I might add) whose discussion morphed into the topic of Community Supported Agriculture. The discussion mentioned a couple of farms that do CSA deliveries in the area, and this prompted me to do a bit of research.
My decision to seek out local produce stems from a few personal biases. First, local produce tastes better. It doesn’t spend days sitting on a truck, it doesn’t need to be picked before ripened in order to keep it from rotting before it arrives at its final destination, and it's often grown with heirloom seeds on an organic farm. I’m not anti-science, but if a seed can be genetically modified to survive a thorough spraying of Round-Up, I’m not sure I want to eat it.
Second, I don’t like the idea of siphoning money to the Middle East in the form of excess gas consumption just so I can have strawberries trucked in from California in January. Finally, I like my local farmers. I love going to the Elmwood-Bidwell Market on a Saturday morning and browsing the fresh selection of produce. I don’t want these guys and gals to go out of business, so if that means I pay an extra dollar for my leeks, it’s worth it, though produce purchased straight from the farmer is almost always less expensive.
After reading up on some of the local CSAs, I decided to purchase a winter share from Native Offerings, a farm in Little Valley, NY. The winter share offers a range of produce, including squash, potatoes, onions, apples, greens, and various root vegetables from November to March. A mass delivery is made to multiple locations in WNY. I’ve paid up front, and starting in November, I’ll swing by MAP on Grant Street, pick up my produce, and start deciding what to cook for the week.
We’ve been trained to base our meals on what we can find in the grocery store. This winter is going to be a new experiment for me as I’m going to try to cook all of my meals with produce grown locally. It may mean a winter without blueberries and bananas, but I’m hoping I’ll learn to live off what the land in WNY produces. In the meantime, if you need a recipe for squash this November, I’ll be your girl!
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sbrof
Don't forget the fine art of jarring fruits and veggies for the winter months that the older generation used to do every year. Something that unfortunately most people have forgotten about. Stew tomatoes, "chillie sauce" which anyone from a German background knows isn't really chillie sauce, jams etc that would provide nutrients and sweets though out the winter months. Ohh memories of running down to the fruit cellar to fetch a jar of tomatoes in January.
Just mentioning this because with a little preparation you wont have to limit yourself as much to what you can or can't have during the winter months , even with sticking to local produce. I look forward to hearing more about your experiment and truly enjoy your coverage or CSA's and other local produce that I might have found myself!!
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chaikac
You must have read "Animal, Vegetable, Miracle" by Barbara Kingsolver (and if you haven't...it will help you with your winter recipes!) Her and her family are quite the inspiration to us all. I'm so excited this 'eating local' seems to really be taking hold in Buffalo.
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sissy
I love the winter share, but be prepared for a lot and I mean A LOT of root vegetables. Being a part of a CSA is such a great experience.
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salamooch
If you need any ideas or recipes, hit me up. I'm def no stranger to cooking. There is def nothing wrong with root veg--bring it! Gotta say, sunchokes and brussels sprouts can be made into snacks rivaling Pringles!!! Watch me!
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Drew
Just tooting out own horn for a second, but Lafayette Ave Presbyterian church (www.elmwoodjesus.org) is really proud to be supporting CSA by sharing its space for distribution (and we are happy to get a share of tasty, high-quality stuff as part of the deal!)
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