Sunday, April 3, 2011

Farm food signed, sealed

Until recently Mr. Woo and I were on a long stint of not having Internet at home (thus the very infrequent updates). We'd nomad around town finding gracious friends who'd host us for the evening if we really needed it (more like Mr. Woo used it and I mooched off their cable TV). One of those nights we were at "the girls' place" when I was able to watch "Food Inc." It shocked me.


So much so that I presented to the leader of our household some reasons why I wanted to try a trial subscription to Eatwell Farms. It's basically farm raised produce that's delivered to many neighborhoods. You know exactly where it's from and where it's been. Husband agreed to trying it, and our trial subscription was born!

The sign-up process was simple, and I felt like I had enough information on their website to search for answers that I needed. In the end we decided on a bi-weekly delivery with a half dozen eggs. This means our trial will cover four pick-ups over eight weeks with eggs each time. Our family is small for the time being and we weren't sure exactly how much food to expect.

Alas, our first pick-up day arrived! I checked the website to see which goodies would be in our box for that week. The site also (thankfully) provides recipes for some of the produce that I've never heard of, much less cooked with in my lifetime. Our pick-up location is just minutes away on the hosts' front porch. We cross off our name, take our box, pick up our eggs, trade any items we may not use/want in the provided box(!), and drive home happy. I tell you, it's like ordering a surprise pack of books on CBD - very exciting - except it's physically healthy for you. Oh, and being the newbies that we are, we didn't bring any bags to transfer the contents to so that we could leave the box there. Now we'll have to bring it back next time to "be green." :)


I felt so organic! I was putting away produce that was picked just the day before, from a real farm. None of the one-of-the-ten-middle-men-genetically-modified-something-shenanigans. For all I know, we might go back to buying produce at the market but I'll enjoy for now.


Part II on our farm food to come soon!

8 comments:

Esty said...

hawaii update too!

:)

I said "Yes" to Mr. Woo! said...

No worries, it's coming right after my PSA. :)

Hannah said...

OOOO I want to try this but I'm always intimidated that I might end up having too much and wasting it. Mayhaps sometime next year I can try starting...

dan tsai said...

you need independent food testers to evaluate the quality of your new source of produce...
(hint)

Bethany said...

jane!! bryan & i subscribed to eatwell for almost a year (i think) and they were really really nice. molly's really helpful and they're super flexible.

the CSA DEFINITELY forced me to cook and use things i wasn't familiar with... but i think during certain seasons there was just WAY too much of something or other. ex: kale, chard, tomatoes in the summer... it's a good learning experience though, because i had no idea how seasonal produce really was. in LA i opted out of the CSA and just do a lot of farmers market shopping so i waste less... but kudos to you :) :) :)

I said "Yes" to Mr. Woo! said...

@Hannah - There's a few others I know who might be interested. Let me know if you want to ask them about sharing!
@Dan - You're more than welcome to join our dinner table if you need a hot/warm meal!
@Beth - Good to know I'm in good company! The farmers' market is definitely a great alternative from what I've read. Plus, it makes me feel like I'm in another country.

junia said...

did u kno galleria in san jose is apparently local organic too.

I said "Yes" to Mr. Woo! said...

@Junia - I had no idea! That's good to hear.