Producing changes

[hrj]

A little over a year ago I started subscribing to a weekly CSA produce box and while it's been an enjoyable challenge I dropped the farm a note this week to explain why I wasn't renewing. Specifically, to explain that the reason had nothing to do with the delicious veggies and the reliable service. We never did get sufficient numbers of subscribers at work for the price cut-off, so for the last half year I've been paying an extra delivery premium. I could avoid the premium by using one of their other delivery sites, but none of them work particularly well in combination with bicycle commuting. With the delivery on-site, I can pick up my stuff during any random stretch-break during the day. Off-site, I'd have to use my lunch hour to bike several miles to get my stuff. And once the inconvenience factor starts kicking in, then I start paying more attention to other factors. The weekly box is almost exactly the right amount of produce for my eating habits (which include a LOT of veggies) ... but that means that in order to keep up with the box, I'm stuck with whatever it gives me. There are a number of things I really like that simply aren't in their plan (e.g., eggplant) and there are mainstays of their boxes that I prefer to enjoy in smaller quantities (e.g., carrots, potatoes, and winter squash). The box also tends to be lighter in the salad department than my diet is.

But the final tipping point in my decision was that there's a new weekly farmer's market starting up in Emeryville (Thursday 12-6 right next to the city hall). Which means that I can still plan my shopping around local, seasonal, organic (in most cases) produce while spending about the same amount and having much more control over choice. I went for the second time today (although at the moment I'm mostly picking up fruit -- which the CSA is light on -- and tomatoes) and clocked it against my lunch hour. Emeryville city hall is on the opposite side of my house from work, but they're more or less in a straight line. A bike ride from work to the market, then to my place to drop stuff off, then back to work is approximately 6 miles (compared to my default 10 mile ride which pretty much takes up the whole lunch hour). This leaves me sufficient time for shopping and stowing without doing significant damage to my margin. There's also the option of dropping by after work (like I did last week) but that requires me to make sure I leave promptly by around five. And, of course, there's always the option of getting my produce at Berkeley Bowl. (I started the CSA box about the same time that Berkeley Bowl West opened, so I haven't actually had the experience of doing all my produce shopping there yet.)

Comments

[hrj.livejournal.com]

One of the in-class discussion exercises used to introduce the cognitive approach to classification theory is to create and apply categories to common plant foodstuffs. The purpose of the exercise is to point out that there are many types of categories that can be applied for many different purposes and very few of them have clear "necessary and sufficient conditions". The same botanic category definition that requires tomatoes to be classified as fruits also requires eggplant, zucchini, bell peppers, pumpkins, etc. etc. etc. to be classified as fruit.

So I will continue to be content with the cook's categorization, in all its inherent subjectivity and fuzziness.