FOOD FOR THOUGHT
Summer Tomatoes Are Better
by Rebecca L. Lucore
July 17, 2024
I don’t like winter tomatoes. They are firm and juiceless, and for the most part, tasteless too. All winter long I dream about summer tomatoes and making BLTs, tomato pie, and a whole list of other tomato food favorites. Pittsburgh isn’t one of those climates that allows its residents the opportunity to have a year-round outside garden, but we are fortunate to be surrounded by many food stores that provide all the produce we could ever want from other regions that grow year-round what we can’t.
But when late spring arrives in Pittsburgh, we have the opportunity to buy fresh, sustainable, locally grown produce from our farmers. And it’s available all summer and through the fall. Community Supportive Agriculture (CSA) programs have been around for decades — mid 80s to be exact — but seemingly have become more mainstream recently for various reasons. Perhaps it’s the emphasis on supporting local business and farmers or the focus on being more sustainable. Whatever the reasons, the CSA programs enable the farmers and the consumers to reap mutual benefits.
Supporting a CSA program is an investment. Participants purchase a share in a local farm that in turn provides them in-season produce and sometimes additional products like flowers, eggs, cheese, honey, or locally raised meat. As the CSA has become more popular, the farms that participate have become more creative in what they offer and where they provide it.
My recent visit to Harvest Valley Farms in Valencia, Pa., looked a lot different from my first CSA almost 20 years ago. In earlier days, most programs had a one-day pick up at the farm and you received a box of pre-selected, in-season produce, and sometimes other items. Today, most CSAs offer multi-day pick-ups at the farm or at other convenient community locations if the farm is too far. At my recent Harvest Valley Farms visit, I was welcomed by helpful staff and family members to an area that was set up much like a farmers market. There were rows of tables filled with colorful vegetables and fruits, and also honey and some meat. I was able to self-select whatever appealed to me. And of course, every item was fresh, colorful and appealing, but the volunteers let you know the quantity of each item that could be taken based on your CSA package.
I had a quick conversation with co-owner Art King. Harvest Valley has been in Art’s family for 32 years. When asked about the importance of the CSA program, Art responded “The CSA is critical to our vitality. We are able to get most of the CSA money up front so we have it to buy supplies early in the season, and we know ahead of time how much product we will need each week. Even with the known, we are sometimes challenged with not having enough supply of high demand items like strawberries and cantaloupes.”
Harvest Valley Farms also runs a year-round market that includes a bakery, dairy products, and a small selection of other grocery items, in addition to the in-season produce. “It has been nice to have CSA members pick up their share at the farm, then go to our market to get the milk, bread, and desserts they need to complete the meal. As soon as CSA is over for the season, members turn to our market for their food, and in October, most of our family events and hayrides are filled with members,” explained Art.
For people looking for additional ways to be more sustainable in their lives, a CSA is a great place to start. They connect consumers directly to more local food sources. That means that the produce travels a much shorter distance, saving fuel, and the direct-to-consumer relationship means the farmer retains a larger share of the profit. Art commented, “The main reason people have told me that they want to be a CSA member is that the quality is the best, and when they have the weekly supply in their home, they eat more fruits and vegetables.”
It’s not only good for sustainability, but for health too.
To use your zip code to locate CSA programs and farmers markets in your region, visit here https://www.localharvest.org/.
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