Community Supported Agriculture (CSA)

Every Saturday morning between 10:30 and Noon, we walk or take the subway to 43rd Street and 9th Avenue to pick up the organic vegetables that we are entitled to share in as subscribers to a New Jersey organic farm. Known as CSA or Community Supported Agriculture, we pay a relatively small fee up front for the 6 month season and are then able to share in the harvest that is delivered to the city each weekend. At first, the harvest struck us as rather meager, though it was probably good for us to figure out how to use an abundance of kale, but more recently we have received some apples, green peppers, and some very delicious potatoes. Actually, quite a few other things, too, but I can't remember them all. In general, it has been a good thing for us to eat more fruit and vegetables and to get used to picking up the organic food we are entitled to. It can also, unfortunately, be a bit of a pain to take the time every Saturday to make our way to 43rd and 9th, but getting there is almost always fun, as it is a lively area where a lot seems to be going on.

We are thinking that maybe we will adopt a new CSA next year, one that provides a little more variety, but the habit of buying, preparing, and eating vegetables has been a good thing and has definitely contributed to our eating a somewhat healthier diet. Who would have thought that such produce could be so readily available to us city dwellers? Just part of the benefit that comes from living in a city where people want to have it all and will do anything to make sure they get it. Indeed, you could say it is part of the diversity and genuine social consciousness of New Yorkers that these CSAs are available all over the city catering to that variety of tastes that so strongly mark New York life.