10Reasons to Join a CSA

Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) programs may be a mouthful, but they’re also the best source for making healthy, seasonal meals — and staying on track with your healthy eating goals this spring and summer. Yes, your local farmers could help support a healthier lifestyle.

Here are our top 10 reasons (but, trust us, there are more!) why joining a CSA could be one of your healthiest moves yet:

我们的身体自然会在一年中的不同时间渴望不同的食物，而食用季节性农产品（意味着在您的社区中生长）意味着食物最新鲜。例如，当我们努力保持温暖时，土豆，胡萝卜和其他根蔬菜在冬季特别令人满意。新鲜的生菜和石果特别适合在夏季冷却。通过吃季节的水果和蔬菜，我们正在帮助身体与大自然保持联系 - 内外。

当您参加CSA或农场份额时，产品刚刚挑选，通常在同一天交付。收获后不久，水果和蔬菜是最营养的浓汤，而在到达杂货店然后到达餐桌之前，农产品被运送了数千英里。

While we’re speaking about how far the food at the store has traveled, it’s worthwhile to add just how much less flavor far-flung foods have. If you’ve ever plucked a carrot from the ground or pulled a tomato from the vine to taste how sweet and distinct they are, you’ll know. Fresh-off-the-farm produce is world’s more flavorful than if it traveled thousands of miles or several weeks from its origin. If you want your tomatoes to taste like tomatoes, get your hands on a CSA-produced local one.

Believe it or not, those steaks weren’t born on styrofoam plates, and those carrots and leaves of spinach have dirt on them because they came from the earth. Getting to know your farmer, where they grow your food and how it arrives to you is a deeply satisfying and grounding way to be more invested in the meals you cook and eat.

由于农场通常会决定您本周获得的产品，因此您最终会获得一些您的经验较少的成分，这意味着这是即兴创作的绝佳机会。所以你有几个萝卜吗？找到他们会发光的食谱。本周有很多西红柿？做酱！所以你收到了罗马尼科？那是什么？拥有农场分享可以帮助您摆脱烹饪车辙，并以新的令人兴奋的成分即兴创作。您可能希望您早日了解Romanesco！

We’re all a little bit more at ease when we have fewer choices. Renowned behavioral economist and Swarthmore professor Barry Schwartz, author of “The Paradox of Choice,”以及“实践智慧”的合着者，经常在美国文化中的期权超载上写和讲话。CSA是一个不考虑晚餐的机会。您拿起赏金，然后从那里向后工作。这意味着您的大脑有时间考虑阅读书籍，计划与配偶约会，写诗或预订下一个假期。无论您占据什么占领，都有CSA决定您本周将在桌子上放置哪种健康，营养的产品是您必须做出的选择。

This means not only recognizing that small farm agriculture needs support, but also that eating from the whole farm (meaning everything that a small farm grows) helps keep soil, agriculture and ecosystems in balance.In his recent book, “The Third Plate，”厨师和有机农场的拥护者丹·巴伯（Dan Barber）概述了食用农民成长以保持农场健康和活泼的重要性。例如，农民播种“伴随植物”，使附近的植物免受昆虫和疾病的侵害，并练习作物旋转，从而使土壤补充，从而产生了营养丰富的农产品。（阅读：不仅仅是您最喜欢的三种蔬菜的价值！）

Says Barber: “…what we eat is part of an integrated whole, a web of relationships, that cannot be reduced to single ingredients.” So we have to get past wanting nothing but carrots, kale and tomatoes each week and opening up to the rainbow your smart organic farmer provides.

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阅读更多>ESSENTIAL GUIDE TO HEALTHY EATING

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如果你努力吃更少的包装和过程ssed foods, rest assured that your farmer will never ever plop a bag of chips, cookies or microwave burritos in your CSA box. Ever. Yes, joining a CSA may tie up your grocery money, but it also means you’ll be more connected and invested in eating healthfully — and you’ll have to make time to cook. If investing in healthful food and eating habits is an investment in yourself, joining a CSA is that same investment tenfold.

There aren’t any additives, preservatives or ingredients made in a lab in your CSA box, which means your body knows exactly how to turn every one of those beautiful foods into energy and nutrients to power your healthy, active body.

许多CSA不仅与水果和蔬菜有关，还与肉类共享，鸡蛋，甚至其他农场产品（例如面粉，谷物，豆类，泡菜和奶酪）有关。农场分享参与者通常是第一个邀请参加农场到餐桌晚餐或在农场上切鲜花的人。成为CSA或小型农场份额的一部分或杂货实际上要多得多。您成为一个美丽的社区的一部分。您正在帮助支持小型农场，以便它们可以使健康，充满活力的农产品以养活您的社区，然后将您的投资收益带给您。这是双赢。