It's True, I'm A Veggie Goddess.

After spending the morning leaving thoughtful, lengthy, serious comments on a few blogs, I realized I'm worn out and exhausted from all this analyzing, discussing, and being so darn excited and passionate.

It's tiring, challenging, and disheartening to talk to people who have come to different conclusions than you, no? It's much easier to think, "I'm right, they're wrong. Closing my ears to any other opinion. Lalalalalah, I can't hear you!"

The humility of dialogue brings much more moderation and sustainability than merely surrounding ourselves with people, newspapers, magazines, and blogs that think like we do.

That being said, I think it's time I tackle another serious topic: CSAs.

Some of you might be thinking: What the heck is a CSA?

Say is with me now: Community supported agriculture is the best thing ever. Ever ever ever.

Here's basically how it works - you pay a farmer a lump sum at the beginning of the season, in the spring. Ours was $290. Then for several months - ours is 16 weeks - you get a heap of fresh, locally grown, healthy vegetables every week. We're about 11 weeks into it, and it's seriously the best decision we made this summer.

Here's my top Six Awesome Things About CSAs

1. VARIETY! I get to try veggies I wouldn't normally buy. Like beets. When would I ever buy beets? Never. But now I know if you roast them in the oven with potatoes and green beans, they are slightly sweet and completely delicious!

2. Deliciousness: Fresh, just-picked watermelon is one of the most delicious tastes ever. When the food doesn't have to travel as far, it's much more fresh when we, the consumers, get it! (Bonus! That means it takes longer for it to spoil. Truly wonderful for a procrastinating cook like myself.)

3. Support Local Business: When you buy food from the grocery store, the farmer takes a pay cut. When you buy directly - you save and the farmer gets more! Plus, supporting your local economy instead of a generic agribusiness keeps money in your area. Win-win. Except for the Big Guy. Sorry, Big Guy.

4. Meet Your Farmer: Many people don't think about where their food comes from, especially children. Ask a child where strawberries come from, and they often say "the grocery store!" What a wonderful experience, then, to understand the story of your food. Local food is a handshake deal in a community gathering place. - Barbara Kingsolver

5. Forces Me to be Healthy: Let's face it, once I have a fridge full of already-paid-for fresh veggies in my fridge, I'm motivated to cook dinner with those instead of ordering pizza. My grocery bill is surprisingly low, because I don't buy much else besides cereal, soy milk, and cheese!

6. Slash Your Food Miles: The average piece of food travels 1,500 miles to get to your plate (source). Our veggies are grown 50 miles away. That saves a TON of gas transporting our veggies.

Sound good? Then check out Local Harvest for a list of CSAs near you. This season is wrapping up, but try to get signed up for next year! It's a great value, healthy, delicious, and better for the environment.

Things That Make You Go Hmmm

Yesterday as we were wheeling our bikes out of the grocery store parking lot, Mike said:

At first, I saw a Prius, and I was like, "Yeah Prius! Woohoo!" then I was like, "You know what's better than a freaking Prius?!? Riding your effing bike to the store!"

He then proceed to analyze how Americans just love to purchase stuff. ANY stuff, especially if that stuff is supposed to be good for us. We can be "green" and still be hardcore consumers! Have our cake and eat it, too! All is good in the world!

That mentality is obviously wrong in so many ways, but it's not surprising - billions of dollars get pumped into the marketing and advertising industry in this country. People are paid to make us think we need more stuff. Lots of stuff. And we do like to shop - it's practically our national pastime.

Let's think about exercise for a minute, shall we? Our grandparents didn't have to exercise - they had chores and walked or biked places. They got fresh air because computers, video games, and TVs didn't keep them inside all day. They didn't have to carve out special time for exercise, they just stayed in shape doing everyday activities.

Today? We have machines and tools to make our lives easier -- from our power vacuum cleaners and lawn mowers to the car-centric suburbs...As a result, we have to do less physical work. Which I'm sure many people would praise. But then, since we sit at a desk and/or in a car most of the day, we either get fat or have to haul ourselves to the gym and jump on another machine to get into shape.

I'm totally a product of this culture - on my college campus, everyone was constantly either on their cellphones or listening to their ipod. But I wonder if it sort of ruins our sense of community when everyone is always by themselves - in their car alone, or on a treadmill with their earbuds stuck in their ears, or chatting on their cellphone as they walk their dog around the block. A professor in college mentioned one day that if we run or walk outside while listening to music, we miss so much. We miss the chance to clear our minds and be connected with what is around us.

At first, I balked. I ran to be in shape, my ipod made it more bearable. But then I tried it - running at night with no music, just the street in front me. I became addicted. (Check out this ode to running on my old blog.)

Now, I'm glad we live somewhere we can walk across the street for some coffee or ride our bikes to the market. I like to be outside and interact with people! And get exercise while doing something else, instead of forcing myself to because I'm "supposed to" and because "it's healthy." (Bonus: If you bike or walk places, you are likely supporting local businesses. Unless you happen to live really close to a suburban-sprawl-chain-store-strip-mall area.)

I guess what I'm really wondering is: Why can't we just simplify instead of making everything so complicated??

When I lived in Hawaii, this was my only mode of transportation.

What was Hawaii like, you ask?

Well, that was my school.

And that was my chubby self after working at Cold Stone :)

Yep, I liked it there.

A Perfect Saturday Morning

* Wake up and do some some yoga with Baron Baptiste.

* Go to the market downtown, grab some yummy food and some fair trade, organic coffee and check out what the adorable Amish grandpa has today. This time of year it's likely to be lots of baked goods, some potatoes he's been able to keep fresh, several jars of his wife's famous pickles, and a dozen starter basil plants. Then we visit with several other vendors we've come to know, including the man at the bulk foods store, who's always ready with a joke. We've bought handmade soap and lotion from a mother-daughter business and the hydroponic vegetable stall, the farmer (who ALWAYS wears a straw hat. I love the Amish.) has a quote posted:

"Local food is a handshake deal in a community gathering place. It involves farmers with first names, who show up week after week."

~ Barbara Kingsolver

It honestly is an amazing place to be - a place for the community to gather, a venue where growers can meet consumers, and an opportunity for small businesses to flourish.

* After filling our tote bags with delicious fresh food, we head over the public library and spend our time leisurely perusing the shelves. Mike fills his arms with jazz CDs while I find a book and settle into a chair. We come out with at least a dozen books and records. I absolutely adore the public library - anything you want! for free! Right now, I'm eagerly awaiting our turn for Flight of the Conchords (the MOST hilarious show ever, ever, EVER. Plus, they totally promote sustainability: "Then you go sort out the recycling, that's not part of it, but it's still very important.")

This is why I love my Saturday mornings.

(But it would be admittedly even MORE perfect if it included these two:)

Oh well, only 11 more people until I get my request from the library.

One Saturday Morning

Since getting married, Mike and I have made a trip nearly every Saturday morning to our wonderful farmer's market. We fell in love with the sense of community, actually meeting the people growing our food (and getting to know them - I have secret crush on the Amish farmer grandpa who we get our eggs from), and just getting to make a normal shopping trip an experience (when you're broke, young newlyweds, you have to think of creative ways to have fun!). Not to mention - the whole locally-grown, organic benefit. The average food travels 2,000 miles before it gets to your table -- when we buy from our farmer's market, it comes from within a 100 or so miles, saving tons of carbon dioxide from the air. Plus, it's fresher!

I'd rather buy from the 2nd Street Market than a huge corporate grocery chain. I know my money isn't going to some distant CEO and executives. For us, it makes more sense and makes us feel good about our food choices to buy from the market. Find your closest market here.

There are also always local handicrafts and restaurant booths set up at our farmer's market. Just another way to try and support local business. My personal favorite is Caffeine - the all fair-trade, organic, and shade grown coffee shop. Plus, they give you 10% off for bringing your own coffee mug! And they're WAY more affordable than Starbucks. *sigh* Is it Saturday yet?

PS: Mike and I just got back from babysitting 15 (FIFTEEN!) kids. Don't we deserve an award?! :)