Eating Out of the Box, Ch 23

By John Van Hecke, Executive Director & Fellow, December 12, 2011 at 1:30 pm

It’s finished. On December 5, the 2011 CSA growing season ended as we returned Norm-the-Grower’s final, empty produce box. It was a Monday, a cold, nondescript, early winter day that will live in ignominy when compared to summer’s and fall’s bountiful deliveries.

I wasn’t expecting much. I knew that I wouldn’t have a chance to shake Norm’s hand, thanking him in person for a good season. It saddens me to have missed his pickup because the CSA relationship concerns the journey as much as the destination.

Food nourishes the soul but first it feeds the body. That’s my family’s starting point. We jumped into a CSA contract because we wanted more produce in our diet. A weekly CSA box achieves that goal and then some. At the season’s height, we were barely able to consume the delivery’s contents.

We didn’t always make it. Neighborly produce sharing and some determined pickling efforts helped us use the bounty without waste. Both eating and sharing keeps me connected to my roots.

I grew up on a southwestern Minnesota farm. My parents produced corn, soybeans, cattle and hogs for the commodity markets. They fed the world but they fed it differently and less directly than market produce growers. My parents contributed to one of America’s great achievements – plenty. Between rich topsoil, federal cheap food policy created by generations of regular experience with inadequate nutrition, and their skill, my folks helped turned America’s promise into low-cost calories.

Coming out of the Great Depression, it’s hard to imagine that post-World War II policymakers would believe that we could become victims of our accumulative caloric success. Yet, we have. Growing obesity and diabetes rates demand that we change our eating patterns.

Change will not be easy. Evolutionarily, our bodies expect to periodically starve. We must literally work against our nature in order to eat and live healthy lives. Our CSA relationship with Earth Dance Farm is a step forward towards that change.

It’s been a tasty, rewarding experience. We’re looking forward to next season. I just hope my memories sustain me through the winter because I’ve nearly finished my last jar of pickled radishes and it’s only December.

Posted in Economic Development | Related Topics: Agriculture  CSA  Nutrition