According to the USDA, fruits and vegetables makes up less than 10% of total calories in the average American’s diet. Of that 10%, a large majority of consumption is attributed to fruits and vegetables in processed forms, such as fruit juices, French fries, and tomato sauce. In contrast, the plant kingdom offers an enormous diversity of fruit, and vegetable options, and more when considering the inclusion of other edible potions of plant tissue, ranging from the roots, stems, leaves, to the flowers, fruit, nuts, and seeds. Of the over 400,000 plant species on Earth, the FOA estimates 250,000 species are completely edible or have edible portions. This large discrepancy highlights the nutritional diversity and quality we have given up in exchange for abundance in our modern food system. Our goal is to grow crops for our customers which increase the diversity and frequency of vegetable crops which are included in their diet. Our goal is continually increase the crop diversity we offer to members of our food program so that they can experience the enormous diversity of flavors, as well as phytonutrients and phytochemicals, that the plant kingdom has to offer.
This year our goal is to include over 125 crops in the CSA share throughout the season. We’ve categorized the crops based on vegetable type and/or plant family to display the diversity and relative proportions of each group of vegetables that we include in our CSA share. Each plant family contains unique phytonutrients and antioxidants, many of which promote good health. We estimate our 2017 CSA share will include an average of 13 lb of produce weekly. For some this may feel like a lot of produce while for others this may only be a fraction of the produce they consume in a week. Our goal is to aid our CSA members in prioritizing whole, nutrient-dense food in their diets so that processed, nutritionally devoid food is squeezed out of the 3-5 lb of food, on average, we each consume daily.
CSA Crop Breakdown
| Plant Categories | Average lb/week | Crops in Category |
|---|---|---|
|
Firm Greens 12 types |
1.75 lb | green cabbage, red cabbage, broccoli, Chinese cabbage, cauliflower, radicchio, Brussels sprouts, red okra, green okra, fennel, celery, rhubarb |
|
Leafy Greens 21 types |
1.75 lb | Romaine, oakleaf lettuce, bibb lettuce, red buttercrunch lettuce, arugula, sorrel, malabar spinach, mustard greens, Swiss chard, endive, kale, collard greens, mizuna, tatsoi, Tokyo bekana, amaranth, mache, boy choi, cress, spinach, borage |
|
Allium Family 7 types |
1 lb | Yellow onion, white sweet onion, red onion, green onion, scallion, leek, garlic |
|
Summer Squash & Fruit 10 types |
1.25 lb | Long English cucumber, pickling cucumber, patty pan squash, yellow summer squash, zucchini, watermelon, canary melon, cantaloupe, honeydew, strawberries |
|
Fall Squash 12 types |
2 lb | Spaghetti squash, delicata squash, acorn squash, butternut squash, buttercup squash, red kuri squash, pumpkin, kabocha squash, blue hubbard squash, festival squash, white winter, turban squash |
|
Leafy Herbs 26 types |
.75 lb | Italian basil, genovese basil, parsley, oregano, thyme, rosemary, summer savory, winter savory, dill, cilantro, sage, lavender, chervil, tarragon, chives, peppermint, spearmint, lovage, lemon basil, lemon balm, anise hyssop, wild bergamot, salad burnet, marjoram, chamomile, calendula |
|
Solanacea Family 15 types |
2 lb | Beefsteak tomato,orange beefsteak, cherry tomato, roma/plum tomato, heirloom tomato, tomatillo, eggplant, red bell pepper, green bell pepper, purple bell pepper, Hungarian wax pepper, jalapeno pepper, chili pepper, poblano pepper, habenero pepper, ground cherries |
|
Legumes & Corn 9 types |
.75 lb | green bean, yellow bean, fillet bean, snap pea, pea, cowpea, lima bean, edamame; sweet corn |
|
Root Vegetables 13 types |
1.75 lb | Carrot, parsnip, radish, daikon radish, turnip, rutabaga, potato, red potato, kohlrabi, beet, golden beet, sunchoke, sweet potato |
| 125 crops total | 13 lb |
Our CSA At-A-Glance
