Cooking Veggies: Best Methods

A few of my friends are getting their CSA deliveries. I'm jealous. One of these days I might start getting my own boxes. Meanwhile, I don't feel too guilty, since the garden's producing an abundance of seasonal fruits and veggies. So that's cool. But for those who can't really garden (or whose fruit trees, grape vines, etc., haven't matured yet), a number of "Community Supported Agriculture" services are cropping up. (No pun intended...)

"Farm Fresh to You" is a local one established for us Bay Area folks. They explain more about why anyone might choose to get CSA deliveries in an article here. I noticed that when you google the term "CSA delivery", a number of websites pop up. It just doesn't do a lot of good, if you live in New York, to discover in some small print at any given website that that particular company is based out of Texas (or what have you). One of the first websites to pop up is one delivering to Southern Westchester County (NY) and Stamford and Greenwich (CT), called "My Farm Share".

So if you're looking into it, do a search for CSA deliveries in your locale. But I did run across a good website, "Local Harvest", that simplifies things by giving you local suppliers, no matter what area you're in. They've got info on online stores, farms, CSA Farmers' Markets, restaurants, grocery/Co-op stores; they've got suppliers for local honey, local meat... At their online store, you can buy all sorts of things from producers who use locally grown ingredients to make their products. (The soap line is impressive.)

Local Harvest also has info on the Ark of Taste project, which is cataloging forgotten flavors, documenting rare breeds and excellent food products that are in danger of disappearing. In partnership with Slow Food USA, Local Harvest lists growers and producers of these items throughout the US.

I love their website!

There's more information on sustainable food here, at the "Sustainable Food Lab" website. We really ought to think a bit more about what it takes to put food on the table! (Isn't it easy to take things for granted?!)