You be the judge

My experience with the Indianpaolis area-based organic CSA I subscribed to in 2008 is the subject of some heated conversation on my blog yesterday.

A commenter on my blog has stated he or she gotten an attorney involved over comments I made about my CSA experience with one of the area's oldest CSAs, claiming I made "attempts to damage our business" and goes on to accuse me of slander and libel. Obviously I disagree.

This poster requested that I remove the end-of-the-season survey about my experience. Despite my beliefs of the First Amendment and the truthfulness of my comments, I will remove Nature's Harves Organics' survey questions from the post.

However, I am summarizing my responses here, because these are my words and my commentary of my experiences of the 2008 season with this particular CSA.

• The organic CSA went beyond my expectations in providing shitake mushrooms, which was not listed on the original listing of produce for 2008.
• I enjoyed the recipes provided and would have used them more if we had larger amounts of certain types of produce in the featured recipes.
• I felt that at times we could have had better instructions on identifying produce. I stand by this due to my cilantro cooking disaster and to my frustrations in trying to identify the various greens.
• We had some challenges due to the crazy early summer weather, which impacted the produce selection for farmers in Indiana. I felt that I had too many tomatoes, peppers and lettuces as a result.
• I felt that at times the variety and quantity wasn't what I had expected.
• I did feel the pick up was convenient.
• Many of the items promised were never delivered* or were not delivered in usable quantities for the recipes. I signed up for this CSA because of the distinct variety promised and felt that didn’t happen for our family.
  * These included: arugula, beets, thyme, parsley, lavender, mint, chamomile, garlic chives, kohlrabi, leeks, kale, melons.

You can read my back posts on the 2008 CSA season here. I encourage everyone who is considering CSA participation to research a variety of sources when making a decision.

As I stated on my blog earlier today, these are challenging times. 50,000 people lost their jobs in one day alone, according to our local paper. Our state's unemployment is 8.2 percent, one of the worst in the nation. More than a quarter of a million Hoosiers are unemployed.

I think it is a sad statement that a local CSA is threatening an attorney at a former customer because their business is down, given the challenges of today's economy.

Written later Jan. 28: I am deleting references to this CSA's name. I am tired of the bullying and the name-calling by this particular person. I offered to compromise with a written Q&A with their article to educate people on the challenges of running a CSA and organic farming and was told that the "proposal is inadequate." I feel as if I am being threatened by their representatives with legal action. Thank you, CSA representatives, for ruining my perception of your CSA operations in less than 48 hours. The funny thing is, I'd planned to re-sign up once my husband found work. I am glad to know there are many, many other options from which to choose.

My CSA Experience 2008

Wrapping up my first year with a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) program in Indianapolis, I've realized I've learned a lot about the CSA process and local eating.

First, you learn you're at the mercy of the weather. You may not completely realize this when visiting a farm stand or farmers market, but when you participate in a CSA, you are at the mercy of Mother Nature. I was scheduled to start getting weekly shares of locally produced produce at the beginning of May - about a month before many farmers markets are open here - but weather derailed the aggressive plans.

Second, you may - or may not - get a more variety with a CSA plan than if you went to the farmers market. I signed up for the program with one of more established CSA programs in the greater Indianapolis area because of the wide variety of produce promised, and much of it didn't happen. I felt like I got a lot of expensive tomatoes, lettuce and green peppers, when I could have simply got those at the local farmers markets instead (organic and at a much cheaper price).

Third, quality can still be an issue. Unlike with farmers markets or shopping in a store, you get what you get with a CSA and can't pick or choose produce that looks better. And sometimes, you end up with unusable stuff. My husband commented again this weekend that "There's more produce we can't use, again," when tossing out some unripe tomatoes that couldn't be eaten. We've also had several weeks where I've had to toss produce before eating it because it was bad when delivered.

Fourth, cost can be a detractor. You do need to pay for the season up front, which can be cost-prohibitive to many families. You sign up in the winter and do not see a "return" until late spring/early summer.

Participating in a CSA was interesting. I did try some new foods and new recipes, with varying results. If you're adventurous in your eating or what to support local producers, it's certainly something to consider.

{ EDITED JANUARY 28, 2009 TO REMOVE THIS CSA'S SURVEY QUESTIONS. I do not agree with this from a First Amendment standpoint, Removal of these questions does not imply I included false, misleading or damaging statements about the company in my responses to the survey, as wrongly claimed in the comments by representatives of this organic CSA on my blog and via e-mail. May these person(s) never have their personal right to free speech or any other right guaranteed by the Constitution threatened!!! These are my comments, documentation and opinions about my experiences, both positive and negative, about the CSA. You may read a summary of my experiences with throughout the 2008 season here. }

[ Edited Jan. 30, 2009, to remove the link to the offending CSA. If you would like to have the names of OTHER CSAs in Indianapolis and Bloomington, follow this link.]

Related Links:

• Pros and Cons of Staying with a CSA
• My CSA experience (past blog posts and recipes)
• Indianapolis and Bloomington, Indiana, CSAs (added Jan. 30, 2009)