I have been a subscriber to Farm Fresh To You for about two years now, receiving a mixed box of their fruits and veggies at my doorstep every two weeks. And it’s been a glorious ride…until last week’s box contained a mango and cucumber. It is the middle of winter so you can imagine why I was suspicious. When I went onto their website, which lists each week’s contents and their origins, I saw that the two items were from Mexico. What??!!?? I joined my CSA to support a local farm, not one hundreds and hundreds of miles away! So I dug a bit deeper and wrote FFTY an email inquiring why they included the far-traveled produce.
FFTY wrote back saying:
“Our website does indicate that we, on occasion, purchase from organic farmers outside our locale. This is especially helpful during the lean and meager seasons where there has been excessive and/or incessant rains as the planting season can get behind; if this is the case, all other organic farmers within our area are in the same boat (no pun intended). So, while most of the items do come from Capay Fruits & Vegetables, in order that you are not receiving a box of repetitious items, we do purchase from organic farms outside our area. This helps the other small organic farms and provides variety for you.”
My Response:
“My questions still is…do you need to go all the way to Mexico (and Washington for that matter) to get produce during lean months? Aren’t there closer farms that could help diversify your boxes while not creating as big of a carbon footprint? While I understand that you need to reach out to other farms, I think the majority of your customers sign up with the belief that they are supporting their local food economy and are unaware that you guys extend your reach that far. It would be worth considering educating your customers of this fact – perhaps via your newsletter – so people don’t naively believe that everything arriving in their CSA box is from within a few hundred miles.”
While I’m still awaiting an adequate answer to that response (beyond saying that they will forward my concerns to the owners for review), I have learned that not all CSA boxes are created equal. Some provide “organic” produce while others provide strictly “local” produce. Before this, I presumed that signing up with a CSA was unanimous with supporting local farms. FFTY does offer a VALLEY version of their CSA box, which guarantees all contents are from Capay Valley and which I’ve since switched to. In the future, I’ll know to read the farm’s information thoroughly before deciding which CSA to sign up with.
Have you checked to see where your CSA box contents are really coming from? And if you knew they were including “organic” produce from far-off-distances would you still subscribe? I believe part of the sacrifice you make when choosing to support CSA/local farmers is to eat butternut squash and collard greens on repeat all winter.
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
Thanks for the post. I’m looking into getting organic vegetable delivery in my area. Just one more thing to consider when choosing a company.
I loved this post. I think that is a really important point that CSAs don’t always have local produce. my mom sent me a link to a company she is looking to buy from. i told her it may be organic but it probably isn’t local based on their Web site. She lives in FL so I think she can find much better!