There are so many great reasons to join a CSA today. What even is a CSA? It stands for Community Supported Agriculture and it’s where a local farm offers weekly shares of the stuff they grow. Usually, you’ll get a box of fresh lettuce, tomatoes, onions, zucchini, basil, and goodies like that. This is a good deal because you get super fresh, local produce and they get support for their farm.

It’s Good for You

One of the top reasons to seek out and join a CSA is that you get access to incredibly fresh, locally grown produce. Instead of an exotic fruit that was picked weeks ago and transported in a truck across many miles, your food is harvested that day, sometimes just within hours of you picking it up! The produce is also grown in your region, which your cells recognize and this helps with your inner circadian and seasonal rhythms. Which is great for hormone health. Fresher food is more nutrient-dense and you want all the minerals you can get.

And Good for Our World

Another awesome reason to get on board is that you will be significantly reducing your food’s carbon footprint. Not only is the food in that grocery truck not as fresh, it requires gallons more fuel to get it to you. There is less farm-level food waste because food in grocery stores is supposed to look perfect. CSA’s allow farmers to sell their imperfect (but still incredibly fresh and tasty!) produce directly to consumers, rather than throwing them away or leaving them to rot on the vine. Your money is going back into your community rather than into an international grocery chain.

Eating Seasonally is a No-Brainer

Receiving a box of fresh produce each week will introduce you to new vegetables and make eating seasonally easy-peasy. You don’t have to wonder if it’s the right time for tomatoes or when asparagus will be ready in the spring. The box is always changing. And just when you are so tired of green lettuces you can’t think of another salad to make, you’ll be delighted with beets, potatoes, and carrots. It might also introduce you to new vegetables you haven’t seen or tried before. Like celery root or kohlrabi.

How to sign up to a CSA?

Well, you have options. You can ask around with your neighbors or coworkers. Maybe it’s a good idea to sign up with a friend if the drive to your local farm is pretty long. Then you can take turns picking up the weekly boxes. You can also visit your local farmer’s market and ask the vendors there if any have CSA sign ups. While you’re there, ask them about their farms and what they produce, how they produce it etc. Most farmers LOVE to talk about that. If you strike out, you can always go online to localharvest.com or eatwild.com. You can do an online search for “CSA in (my city)”. The farm will let you know how their payments works, if boxes are weekly or bi-weekly etc.

You can read even more on exactly how to sign up to a CSA.

Or go on an even further deep dive: my Wild Women’s Hormone Ebook on hormones and seasonal eating!