I was disappointed with our CSA basket this week. It just seems they threw a bunch of random fruits and veggies in a basket with little though. I am pretty sure the only thing local was the tomatoes. We decided we are going to cancel our CSA basket and just purchase from the farmers market. This way we have control over the produce we eat every week, and it is guaranteed to be local.
I was, however, not disappointed with the produce at the farmers market. The tomatoes and cucumbers were delicious. They were just right. J.P and I are going to make a larger effort to only purchase produce that is locally sourced; the famers market is a great way to do this. I am even going to significantly reduce the amount of banana’s we buy. If all goes well, we will continue when we move home. Now, that will be a challenge for sure. Have you ever tried to grow anything in Quebec in November?
On that note, I just wanted to mention that Whole Foods sells fair trade produce. Just the other day I saw pineapples and mangos, and they also sell fair trade bananas and peppers. I know I just said we are buying local, but if you are ever in the mood for some exotic fruits or veggies, I would say the the fair trade route is much better than the conventional route.
I am happy to say we only went to Chipotle once this week. We are trying to cut down on the amount of times we eat out and the amount of money we spend at restaurants. Chipotle is inexpensive, and delicious, so it is usually at the top of our list when deciding where to go out to eat. I am not complaining, I think everyone knows how much I love that restaurant.
1-PURCHASES
Farmers market (all grown in Texas)
- 7 cucumbers
- 6 cartons of strawberries
- 2 cartons of small tomatoes
- 12 large tomatoes
- 12 red/yellow/green peppers
- Cauliflower
- 8 large carrots
- A dozen eggs
Sub-Total: 40.00
CSA Basket (some Texas- some not sure where)
- 1 carton of small tomatoes
- 5 regular tomatoes
- 1 purple cabbage
- 1 bunch of kale
- 1 bunch of spinach
- 5 large potatoes
- 10 red potatoes
- 5 apples
- 1 pineapple
- 1 head of iceberg lettuce
- 4 pears
- 1 small head of broccoli
- 4 beets
Sub-Total: 50.00
Whole Foods
Bulk
- 1 bunch of fair trade bananas (2.54 lbs)
- 2 fair trade peppers (1.14 lbs)
Non-Bulk
- 2 packages of tempeh
- 3 glass jars of tomato paste
- 4 glass bottles of Kombucha
- Pickles in a glass jar
- Almond flavor in a glass jar
- Vanilla flavor in a glass jar
- 1 dollar donation
Non-food items
- Compostable bags
Sub-Total: 61.18
Restaurants
- Thursday: J.P had his weekly lunch at Chipotle 8.50
- Saturday: Chipotle for lunch 11.50
Sub-Total: 8.50
Total: 159.68
2-COMPOSTING
I did not juice last week. I decided to give my body a rest from all the sugar that I consume in my juice (fruit). It is amazing how consuming less sugar really makes you feel so much better. We still had quite a bit of compost from eating lots of veggies.
The total weight of our compost was 13 lbs.
3-RECYCLING
I feel as though our recycling bin is still multiplying at an alarming rate. I am thinking it is all the junk mail we receive daily. I have tried to cancel and it seems to not be working. It is still boggling my mind. I know that a large amount is junk mail, but it cant be that much – can it?
4-TRASH
Our trash basket this week was pretty much empty again. This last month our trash bin has been almost empty. Our garbage this week comprised of the usual suspects: receipts, pieces of plastic from my Kombucha bottles, 1 piece of plastic wrap from tempeh, a few random pieces of plastic and a few stickers from our fruit and veggies that I was not able to save for little E’s sticker album.
5-TRAVEL
This week, we travelled to Whole Foods and the farmers market. We walked everywhere else we needed to go.
The total distance traveled on the TDI was 242.9 km ( 150.9 mi) and we did not need to fill up the gas tank.
We try to shop locally as well, and when we were also disappointed with our CSA basket, I decided to go to the farmer’s market. I don’t love getting up so early on the weekends, but find it to be well worth it! 🙂
I know it is not always easy to eat local. We do the best we can as well. 🙂
I am going to miss Chipotle when we move back home to Montreal. there is only ONE Chipotle in all of Canada, and Toronto has it. A 6 hour drive is a little far for a quick meal!
It is crazy that the CSA isn’t local produce!!! I just found out our market doesn’t reopen until June. I am going stir crazy over here!
I know. Crazy!
Several years ago, we belonged to a CSA. I really like the concept of being a partner with a farmer … however, we experienced the same thing that you did … some of the produce was not grown on the farm or even locally. To make matters worse, we often found rotten produce in the box once we got it home. So we also switched to the farmer’s market. I feel that we are wasting less and that we are, indeed, supporting local growers. I suppose that I can understand why a farmer would go out and buy things to put into a CSA box … while the concept is that we share in the harvest (good or bad), the reality is that people get mad if they don’t have a full box. So farmers may feel a bit of pressure to always ensure that their clients get their money’s worth. I personally don’t like it. I feel that if we’ve chosen a farmer who’s growing methods and experience are sound, then it is part of the “deal” to take our chances with whatever yield there is. We are, after all, partners … not customers.
I like to pick out what I am going to eat. When we are back home we will have to get a basket from our roof top farm because there is nothing in season in Quebec in the winter. We will tough it out though. But everything is form the roof top farm or from surrounding farms all certified organic and local. Strawberries in the winter here I come…
Well, I am happy I am just a hop and skip away from the farmers market and do not need to buy anything from Mexico right now!