The history of Pretty Smart Raw Food Ideas is directly tied to my first venture into CSAs. Some years back, I saw an announcement for a CSA a couple of blocks from my home, and I signed up right away. As CSAs often deliver vegetables folks have never seen before, I began to hear people asking what they should do with what they had received in the box. Me? Being raw, I just went on-line, found out about the vegetable in question, and then started experimenting. People started asking me for recipes. I asked the CSA if we couldn’t have a way to publish recipes for the benefit of the members. They poo-poo’d my idea. My blog was born the next day, with raw recipes for the vegetables I found in my box.
Now, I have found a CSA which allows you to casually join whenever you find out about it, and allows you to pay by the week. (I have had to leave that first CSA because they require an up front payment which I could not manage). I’m telling you this because, if you have thought about a CSA, but didn’t sign up for one in the spring (most CSAs require you to sign up before May), there is a CSA that you can still join.
Corbin Hill Food Project is a CSA that works with local farmers to provide low cost organic vegetables and fruit (and other products, as add-ons), mostly in low-income neighborhoods (that doesn’t mean that you can’t join if you are not low-income – it just means that you might have to travel a bit). The beauty of this CSA is that you can sign up at any time during CSA season (summer to fall), and, if, for any reason, you cannot receive your share the next week (for example: you will be away, or you can’t afford it), you can put your share on hold, simply by notifying them a week in advance. If you are interested, please visit Corbin Hill Food Project to find the most convenient location for you to receive your share (I’ll be going to the Community Kitchen and Food Pantry on 116th St in Harlem – it’s familiar to me, and I want to support its programs, and, also, the commute there and back home is reasonable, even if it is not right near my home – heck! Fairway, Costco, and Trader Joe’s involve commutes so it is not really that big of a deal).
The first deliveries are June 18th and June 19th (depending on your chosen location – I’m set to receive my share on Tuesday, the 18th), and the last day to sign up for that week is June 10th.
Just saying.
PRETTY SMART RAW FOOD IDEAS 