For The LOVE of Food!

Oh my poor blog! As you can imagine, life with twins got interesting. My little sweethearts keep me busy these days. I have a great topic today for you, enjoy.

 

You should know that I LOVE food. I often joke that with my admiration of food I should be 300 pounds! I love everything about food, shopping for food is an adventure for me, cooking food is an art form and going out to try new foods is a hobby. When my amazing baby girls came home from the hospital my relationship with food was neglected. It was hard to find time to eat and shopping for food, even at Whole Foods, became time consuming and at times frustrating. The solution? Join a CSA!

 

CSA = Community Supported Agriculture

This was a heaven send! I joined a local CSA that only grows organic produce, they work with other local organic farmers to create an amazing assortment of fruits and veggies. Then once a week a beautiful box of goodies arrives at my doorstep. The CSA I joined allows me to pay for only one week at a time on an as needed basis, the box is delivered to my home at no extra charge and they have an organic egg option as well. For a 1/2 fruit, 1/2 veggie box we pay $23, eggs are an extra $4. This has saved my relationship with food! I now can plan my dinners around what we get in our box that week. Also, now that the girls eat solid foods I can make them amazing organic baby food! Here is a list of what arrived on my doorstep today...

PEARS, TANGERINES, NAVEL ORANGES, BROCCOLI, DINO KALE, RAINBOW CHARD, BABY SPINACH, GREEN ONIONS, POTATOES, YAMS

Almost every town has a CSA for you to join. Some ask for you to pay for the whole season upfront but others, like mine, allow you to pick and choose which weeks you want. Mine even sends an email out a few days before the box arrives telling you what is in the box so you can decide if you want it that week or not. 

Why Should I Join?

It will save you time and money as well as support organic farmers. Before I joined the CSA I was easily paying over $35 a week at Whole Foods and our local farmer's market buying produce for two adults and two hungry babies. Add that up over a month plus the cost of gas (and what ever treat I find to eat along the trip) and you have over $140 a month. Buying through the CSA and supplementing our favorites that do not come in the box we now pay $23 a month plus about $10 so roughly $102 a month and that is delivered right to my home.

Why Organic?

Why Organic you ask? Have you ever tasted organic fruit compared to regular? It has so much more flavor. That alone gets my vote. Pesticides are another great reason, did you know that most people who are allergic to strawberries are not allergic to the berry itself but rather they are reacting to the pesticides? That is not the only fruit where that is the case. There are certain fruits that are very important to buy organic because they are covered in pesticides and usually the farmer uses GMO seeds (genetically modified organism) which are not good. Those fruits are grapes, all berries and apples. Fruit with heavy peels like bananas and oranges do not matter as much but even my husband has noticed that organic oranges have more flavor and requests them when I go to Whole Foods. 

Who is my CSA?

We use J&P Organics, they deliver in the Bay Area and Monterey cities.

" J&P Organics began with a shattered dream. Twelve years ago, Pablo and his wife, Florencia, were leasing a small raspberry farm. While in full production, a water pump broke. Although they were willing to split the cost for a new one, the other farmers leasing land decided against it. The dreams of Pablo to be his own boss and provide for his family were crushed.

Years later, while JP (Pablo’s eldest son) attended college, he stumbled upon a program sponsored by ALBA (Agriculture Land Based Training Association) called PEPPA (Programa Educativo Para Pequeños Agricultores). This program, along with the education JP received at CSUMB gave his family the tools necessary to realize the dream of one day being their own boss. Pablo and Florencia took a chance and quit their jobs to train with ALBA and eventually leased some land to grow organic fruits and vegetables.

Five years later, the family works together; Pablo and Florencia grow and wholesale the veggies and fruit, JP and his brother Maickey deliver to homes in Monterey County, drop-off locations in Santa Clara County, and work at the Farmer’s Markets in Oakland, while JP’s wife Wendy coordinates the CSA program that provides fresh, organic vegetables and fruits to over 500 people in two counties.

J&P Organics’ main purpose is to provide fresh organic fruits and vegetables that promote human and environmental health by farming in harmony with the resources of our precious planet." http://jporganics.com/

Book Resources
Green Babies, Sage Moms by Linda Fassa
Ecoholic by Adria Vasil
Healthy Child Healthy World by Christopher Gavigan
Organic Baby, Simple Steps for Healthy Living by Kimberly Rider


Web Resources
http://jporganics.com/