Cooking for just two people, I will undoubtedly face moments of frustration: What do you do with one kohlrabi? When you have recently made apricot pie, cobbler, salad dressing and compote, what do you do with two more pounds of the lovely fruit?
This spring I signed up as a subscriber to Zoe's Garden, a community-supported agriculture (CSA) program that distributes shares from a family farm once a week in Salt Lake and Park City. Today's box contained all the produce listed above and a bit more, all picked early this morning and organically grown.
We bought a share in Zoe's Garden for several reasons. We love fresh produce, and we are not good enough gardeners to grow vegetables here in the mountains. (Our neighbor grows beautiful tomatoes, but he also covers them every single night during the growing season - something I'd surely forget to do!)
We also wanted to focus part of our grocery spending on local producers and to support small farming. People who share these goals have caused the CSA movement to swell in the last 15 years. According to Steve McFadden in New Farm magazine, in 1990 there were about 60 CSA farms; in 2004, there were more than 1,700, and the number is still climbing.
By paying for a season's worth of produce in advance, subscribers provide a measure of financial security to CSA farmers. Our subscription fees help cover the costs of seeds, fertilizer, labor, and more - costs that can imperil small farmers should crops fail or market conditions change. Subscribers also share the farmers' risk: If crops fail, I'll get a smaller share in my weekly box. If there are bumper crops, I'll be overwhelmed. Picture it: 10 kohlrabi! 7 rutabagas! 20 pounds of apricots!
Small farms in America have been in trouble for decades for many reasons. I've read many articles lamenting "the end of the family farm," but I haven't seen many suggestions for turning the tide. CSA may offer one solution to a many-faceted problem, and that's another reason to be a part of the movement.
There are spiritual reasons, too. Christians (and adherents of other major faiths) are charged with stewardship of the earth. Many American Christians, myself included, have lost touch with what it means to care for the natural world. Travel to an urban corridor like New York-Philadelphia-Baltimore-Washington, and you get the feeling we may have asphalted ourselves into a corner.
How can we take care of the earth if we don't know anything about it? Why would we tend the garden God has given us if we don't even know that tending is required? The least I can do is to plant a few flowers and shrubs and herbs in my own little garden and invest my grocery money in local, healthy, sustainable food production.
I wasn't feeling so idealistic tonight as I tried to find space in my small refrigerator for all that green (and red, yellow and white) stuff.
But as the week goes by, and I learn what to do with kohlrabi and enjoy knowing that I'm feeding my husband fresh, organic produce, I'll remember why I "own" part of Zoe's Garden this summer, and I'll give thanks.
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* CONNIE CLARK, an
Episcopal priest and chaplain in Evanston, Wyo., welcomes comments at chaplconnie@yahoo.com. You may also comment by e-mailing religioneditor@sltrib.com.
