By Trish Taylor, GreenPepper
With the new year approaching we can anticipate the deluge of news stories about eating healthier, losing weight and saving money. Hopefully there is a sprinkling of stories about what you can do to help save the environment.
To help eat healthier and support the environment in 2009, I plan to buy into a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) share. CSAs are a great way for people to eat locally grown foods. We all know fruits and veggies can travel thousands of miles to get to our plates. With most CSAs you simply pick up your bounty each week for an upfront membership fee. And now is the time to join because memberships are limited and farmers are planning what and how much to plant in the coming year.
Some CSAs let you work off part of the membership by coming in weekly to do chores. Local Harvest has a great Web site to find a CSA near you.
I recently attended the Family Farmed Expo in Chicago where I met with local farmers from the Midwest, many of whom bring their harvests into the city for farmer’s markets and CSA programs. I recommend attending such an event in your area because you just learn things you didn’t know were possible. I had no idea I lived just a few miles from a chestnut farm and who knew they were grown in the Midwest!
And finally, if you don’t live near a CSA drop off point, just try a garden for yourself. Even if you live in a condo with a small deck you can grow your own veggies. I recommend a patio tomato plant that grows no bigger than 12” tall. It produces early and all summer long. Just reach out to a local master gardener program to learn more about what can be grown in your region. Disclaimer: I just passed the test to be a master gardener intern.
Personally, I can’t wait to integrate vegetables I wouldn’t normally buy at the store into my cooking. Hope you have a green and tasty 2009!
Yeah. I agree. But I hate him at first.
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