Wise words: Joining a CSA

When Aunt Elizabeth was here in Mexico a couple weeks ago, we spent a lot of time talking about how life here is different from the U.S. One thing that we both could not shut up about was the local food markets. They are fabulous. My market is so local, in fact, that I only have to walk two blocks to get my hands on fresh tomatoes, onions, almonds, strawberries, bananas, bushels of cilantro, and homemade cheese. It's very affordable—I usually spend about $18 for a week's worth of the above.

One of the snazzier market stalls in Mercado Hidalgo, Guanajuato

People don't tend to think of Mexico as a pioneer in green living, but food markets are one of two huge areas (bus travel is the other) where this country totally trumps the U.S. Fortunately, Elizabeth let me know about a way around the lack of affordable food markets in the States: buying shares in CSAs.

Elizabeth in my living room in Mexico. The fact that her outfit totally matched the decor was a complete and awesome accident!

And now that spring is here, talk of CSA's (Community Supported Agriculture) seems to be everywhere on the internet. My favorite food blogger, Nick at Macheesmo, just posted an informative post about CSAs with lots of good comments from his readers. Since overabundance can be a problem with CSAs (one reader cites an over-active zucchini patch), the way to get the most out of your CSA is to learn how to preserve, preserve, preserve!