I was faced recently with an interesting dilemma, one that reflects, I think, on the recent discussion about food prices.
A New Hampshire farm was looking for people in the community where I have a condo (a loosely knit community of several hundred home and condo owners) to commit to regular weekly deliveries of its vegetables for four months beginning in mid-June. The farm would make deliveries the hour or so to our community once a week. Cost of the CSA (community supported agriculture) shares: $375 for a small share and $500 for a large one.
The dilemma stemmed from a couple things. First, I probably wouldn’t be in New Hampshire each week to get my food. I already had a few travel commitments that would keep me away on three occasions. Second, I have become accustomed to visiting any of four different farmers markets and a fruit-vegetable stand to obtain food during the growing season.
By committing to the CSA, I would essentially be shifting purchases away from those farmers to a different farmer. Was that the right thing to do?
I wound up emailing my concerns about the first issue to an owner of the CSA farm. She said I could have a neighbor get my food on the weeks I wasn’t there, or else I could give the food to an area food pantry. And on the weeks when I was arriving on Friday and thus wouldn’t be able to pick up my food at the community center on the Thursday delivery day, she offered to drop it in a covered area at my condo so it would be there when I arrived Friday.
Good options, I thought. Moreover, I liked her tone. She was not only businesslike, but sincerely trying to be helpful.
I decided to make the commitment. Deliveries are scheduled to begin in a couple weeks, and I’m excited about what I expect will be a wide variety of tasty veggies. But more than that, I feel as if I’m part of a community of people—some of whom I’ll hopefully meet when I begin picking up my veggies—who are investing in a different approach to food and nutrition.
This community factor associated with food and nutrition is something that is well articulated in a recent book, “Deep Economy: The Wealth of Communities and the Durable Future” by Bill McKibben. One of the most interesting sections of the book is his account of how he committed to obtaining all his food for a year from local sources—a special challenge for someone like him living in Vermont. He made it, though by the early spring of last year, his family was becoming understandably cranky about the seemingly endless root vegetables they were consuming. But one of the major benefits he came to appreciate was his involvement in a community of food producers within driving radius of his home.
I can begin to relate (and only begin), based on my expanding relationships with farmers producing milk, eggs, meat and, now, vegetables.
I think these notions of commitment and community help explain further my sense that real food may cost more than many people expect (or maybe not, if we refrain from buying as much processed and prepared foods, as Anna suggests). But quality usually does cost more. Producers of organic products and grass-fed meats inevitably incur higher expenses because they refrain from the mass-production practices of the factory farm system.
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I know I’ve given a lot of attention to raw milk over the last several months, but am I someone “who’s fallen into a vat of unpasteurized milk and doesn’t seem interested in being rescued”? Seriously, I admire the graphic metaphor, but even more I appreciate the praise from The Ethicurean (fifth item down). This site is dedicated to constructively “thinking about food,” and does so by monitoring media developments in this arena…I’ll bet soaking in a vat of raw milk would be good for the skin…
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