Worth the price and a whole lot more.

I know I haven't been writing much lately, and I certainly regret it.  I've never intended to be something that people in this town actually paid attention to, but somehow it happened.  I'm well aware that a few months of silence makes me quickly become obsolete to so many people who may have moved on to something else.  I've been extremely busy with my job, side projects, special interests, etc so I really haven't had much time to type up some new reviews.  Also, I've been eating out a WHOLE lot less.  The reasons are many.  First, I got bored of most places in town and lost interest in many old favorites.  I also have been trying to make as many health conscious decisions as possible, and unfortunately eating out is the first thing to change in that department.

I still eat at Flacos at least once a week.  I've also been pleased to add Tempo Bistro and Gator Suyaki to the top of my list of excellent places in town.  I've lost interest in The Top and The Jones and I just don't care enough to try out some of the newer places.

As a result of this change in my eating habits, I've come to the realization that where Gainesville really excels in the food department is in the raw materials.  We have excellent producers of honey, coffee, produce, milk, cheese, meat, baked goods, confections, chocolates, etc, etc.  If you want to make a meal, you can get some of the best raw ingredients around right in the ol' 352.

For several years now, we've been members of the Family Garden CSA (Community Supported Agriculture).  We pay our farmer, Jordan, up front (usually in August or September), and then we get vegetables and fruit every week until about late May/early June.  Since the growing season in our region is SO long, we get stuff nearly year round.  Also, as the seasons change, he grows different crops that are appropriate for the weather/climate zone.  This means we don't get tomatoes in December, but we do get a constantly revolving assortment of fresh, seasonally appropriate variety. 

Jordan's produce is all organic, locally grown, and personally delivered to the Farmers' Market.  Also, it is always excellent.  The quality of the produce is unmatched.  If something is in season, you'll never regret the membership fee when you see your week's haul.  I've calculated that our weekly fee comes out to around 25 dollars (don't quote me on that, I'm terrible at math).  That's alot of money for vegetables...  or is it?  Before the CSA, I typically spent a good amount of our shopping budget on fresh fruit and veggies, but how did they get here?  Which came from California?  Which (unwittingly, as I never try to buy foreign produce if possible) came from Argentina or Chile?  How many fossil fuels and chemicals and other earth taxing ingredients went into their production?  Did this blueberry really pass through the Panama Canal to get to my plate?

So, it was with some irritation that I watched a random shopper tell Jordan he was selling his cucumbers for too much money.  Here's how the exchange went:

Shopper: How much are your cucumbers?
Jordan: 3 dollars for a basket (a basket had about 6 cukes)
Shopper: Are you kidding?  Publix has them for 1 dollar (never specified how many for a dollar)
Jordan: So go buy them at Publix.
Shopper: I was just saying, I thought you'd like to know that other people are selling for less.
Me (couldn't resist): Yeah, but he's the guy who grows these.  They're organic.  He grew them right over there (points vaguely to the west).
Shopper: Well, I don't care that they're organic
Me: Well that's only one of the reasons why they cost more.

People will always want to haggle.  They'll always try to score the best deal possible.  They'll even try to lend a hand and offer suggestions to help you improve your business from time to time.  But this guy was simply not attaching any value to food.  No value to farmers. No value to what should really be happening in the world of food production.

The fact that Jordan (with the help of his skilled staff and family) plants the seeds, tills the earth, waters, monitors, organically pest controls, covers with frost blankets, harvests, delivers, and then sells the food himself is worth something.  It's worth 3 dollars for 6 cucumbers.  In my opinion, it's worth a whole lot more than that.  But with guys like the above mentioned shopper, how can a small farmer compete with large corporations that can get you a cucumber from California for 1 dollar?  Hopefully with our support they can.

Go support some local food producers today!

 

(what our fridge looks like after a CSA pickup)