CSA members are farm VIPs

Our CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) members are the heroes of our farm, and we’re so thankful for them! Their support is what allows us to keep growing healthy food for our community.

CSA members are the VIP customers at West End Farm. We appreciate their investment in the farm (and the farm products, and the farmer), and we show that by giving them the first, best, biggest, and freshest produce.

Harvest happens on CSA pick up days (Mondays and Thursdays), so CSA customers get veggies that are only hours out of the field! When the first strawberries are ripe, they go in the CSA boxes before any extras go to the farmers market. When the broccoli is harvested, the CSA boxes get the nicest, biggest heads, and what’s left is posted for sale on the farm website. When people call the farm wanting to buy tomatoes, we tell them we’ll let them know what’s available after we pack the CSA boxes.

Every week during the CSA season, members get the exclusive weekly CSA email (see the photo for an example) with all kinds of tips and tricks for using their produce. At the top is an update on what’s happening at the farm: what’s being planted, which highly-anticipated crop will be ripe in the next week or two, and any important announcements about their CSA box. Next in the email is a section that lists every item in the CSA box that week, along with suggestions for how to store it and ideas for how to use it in recipes. The “Featured Item” section of the email goes in-depth on one of the veggies in the box, with nutritional information, fun facts, and additional tips on how to prepare it. A recipe is included every week that uses at least one (and sometimes all) of the items in the box. And at the end of the email is a section listing additional items for sale.

CSA members get first chance to buy any additional products from the farm, before we take them to the farmers market or advertise them elsewhere. That means when we’re about to harvest honey from the honeybees, the announcement goes out first in the CSA weekly email so CSA members can reserve their honey orders. When we make a fresh batch of jam from our berries, the CSA members are the first to know. And when we offer up canning tomatoes or other items for sale, the CSA members have the first chance at them.

CSA members have a standing invitation to come visit the farm for box pickup every week. When they come out to pick up their box of freshly-harvested veggies, they get a chance to chat with the farmer, see the produce growing, and watch the chickens run around. Kids can pet the baby kittens, pick a flower for their mom, or see if there are any ripe blackberries.

Does this sound like a community you’d like to be part of? We’d love to have you! You can join the farm here.

Helping kids WANT to eat their veggies

Getting kids to eat veggies can be hard. Fortunately, research shows that participating in a CSA can help!

A fun thank you note from one of our young CSA members

If getting your kids to eat their veggies is a constant battle, then you should know that your household is just like 99% of other households!

Here are a few ideas to try:

• Grow a garden, and/or join a CSA. When kids have a connection to where their vegetables come from, either by helping to grow them themselves, or by visiting the farm where they’re grown, they’re more likely to eat (and maybe even like) them. Being part of a CSA engages kids’ curiosity, independence, and openness to new foods.

• Create a “positive food environment” by offering homegrown garden produce. Research shows that "preschool children who were almost always served homegrown fruits and vegetables were more than twice as likely to eat five servings a day than those who rarely or never ate homegrown produce." Offer high-quality, high-flavor homegrown produce to give your kids the best shot at learning to like it.

• Let kids choose. Whether it’s at the farmers market, the grocery store, or in your refrigerator, letting kids pick out vegetables engages them and makes them more likely to eat those veggies. Fun fact: we’ve observed that when given the choice, kids choose our purple bell peppers over any other color. Sometimes they just need the autonomy to try something new on their own.

• Take the pressure off. Rather than forcing your kids to eat, focus on making mealtimes positive experiences. When you create a fun environment and foster connections with your kids, it’s easier for them to try new veggies without all the pressure. (This tip comes from a great new blog by local dietician, Tara Dunker.)

• Offer new veggies multiple times. Kids can learn to like new foods if they’re offered multiple times. Toddlers can learn to like a new food after 5-10 tries. 3 and 4 year-olds might need 15 opportunities. (Farmer Katie is still trying to learn to like beets. She’s at approximately 27 tries, but she’s even more stubborn than a 4-year-old.)

• Make veggies easy and available. Kids will be more likely to eat veggies if they are the snacks you provide for them. Keep your kitchen stocked with fruits and veggies rather than junk food, and your kids will learn to reach for healthy snacks. You can make it easy for them by having pre-cut veggies in a container they can access in the fridge.

• Set a good example. Above all, kids learn by example. Be sure to model healthy eating habits in your own life. Let your children come along on trips to the CSA farm, farmers market, or grocery store. Involve your children in healthy meal prep. Eat meals with your children and let them see you try new foods and load up on veggies. Your kids may not magically like broccoli, but if they watch you eat it, they might be more open to trying it themselves.
  

Beet Hummus

This pretty pink hummus is great for adding color to your relish tray.

Ingredients:

2 beets, roasted or steamed till tender, skin removed

1 can chickpeas, drained & rinsed

1-2 cloves garlic

1/2 cup plain Greek yogurt (OR 2-3 Tbsp olive oil)

1-2 Tbsp lime or lemon juice

1/2 tsp cumin (optional)

salt & pepper to taste

Directions:

Put beets and chickpeas in blender or food processor and pulse until fully combined. Add remaining ingredients and blend until smooth. If mixture is too thick, add water 1 Tbsp at a time until desired consistency is reached.

Spread on crackers or toasted bread, or use as a dip for veggies.

Simple Snacks

Simple snacks with local veggies

If you’re trying to incorporate more healthy food into your routine, here are some easy ways to eat healthier snacks.

The quickest and easiest is to simply eat raw veggies with your favorite dip, like Ranch, honey-mustard, or homemade beet hummus like in the photo below. (For more delicious dip ideas, check out this collection.)

To make healthy snacking easier, have your veggies washed and sliced, and in an easy-to-grab container so you’ll be more likely to choose them over the bag of potato chips.

Veggies in the photo above include:

• carrots

• cucumbers

• multi-colored green beans

• kohlrabi

• multi-colored bell peppers

Other great veggies for raw snacking include:

• cauliflower

• broccoli

• radishes

• salad turnips

• cabbage

• snap peas

• cherry tomatoes

And fruits and berries are great for snacking! You can find local:

• strawberries

• raspberries

• blackberries

• cantaloupe

• watermelon

• apples

• peaches

• pears

You can freeze or dehydrate fruits and berries to make them last longer.

To step up your snacking game a bit (or for fancy appetizers), try incorporating vegetables into dips, spreads, or the beautiful tomato-basil bruschetta pictured below, crafted by one of our CSA members.

photo by Jen Amor

I can’t eat that many veggies!

With CSA season right around the corner, I want to address one of the common concerns I hear about the CSA: “There are 5-6 items in a small box?! How am I supposed to eat THAT many vegetables in a week?!”

If you’ve been in school in the past 3 decades, or have paid attention to nutrition advice from the USDA during that time, you probably remember the old food pyramid. This is what recommended 3-5 servings of vegetables and 2-4 servings of fruit per day.

All images from wikipedia

Then the food pyramid was replaced with MyPyramid, which recommended 2 1/2 cups of vegetables and 2 cups of fruit per day.

And now, the current USDA graphic is MyPlate, which recommends that 40% of your daily plate is vegetables and 10% is fruits.

And, the popular phrase “Five a day” is an interpretation of WHO recommendations that helps us remember to consume 5 portions of fruit and veggies per day.

So why does all this matter?

Many people are concerned that they won’t be able to eat everything in their CSA box each week. But remember "5 A Day"? How you're supposed to eat 5 servings of fruits and veggies per day? (Yeah, I don't always manage that either.)

This means if we're actually trying to follow that advice and eat healthy, one person needs 35 servings of fruits and veggies every week.

The amount of produce in the weekly CSA boxes varies seasonally, but on average, there are about 20 servings per small box. So if there are two people in your household, a small box should definitely be manageable. (And don’t forget to pick up some extra veggies and fruits to get all your servings!)

If it still seems like too much, or if you'll be traveling a lot this summer, consider splitting your box with a neighbor or friend. There are several CSA members who do this and it’s a win-win: you automatically have someone to pick up the box for you if you’re on vacation, AND that person can pass the tomatoes back to you if they don’t like them!

Now, I recognize that KNOWING how many servings we’re supposed to be eating is different than actually EATING that many servings. Stay tuned for some upcoming blog posts with ideas for how to actually incorporate more vegetables into your meals.

And, if you think this is the year you should finally get serious about eating your vegetables, check out our CSA page for more details.