A couple of months ago I read the Omnivore’s Dilemma by Michael Pollan. It was a great read, and it inspired me to try to eat more locally. I was really intrigued by the idea of Community Supported Agriculture, and so I did some reseach on how I could get involved in Toronto. I found a great site, the Ontario CSA Directory, which is an easy way to locate CSAs in your area, and it is how I found Culinarium, located at Eglinton and Mt. Pleasant. Jessica and I started by signing up for a two week trial, and now we are signed up for the rest of the summer.

Basically, how it works, is that you pay in advance, and each week you get to pick up (or have it delivered to your house for an extra fee) a box of local produce. The items change from week to week depending on the season, and the box also includes a dairy product and a ‘pantry staple.’

Here is how the box looks when you pick it up. I was pretty excited to open it up! It feels like a huge present.

This week we got Boston lettuce, red swiss chard, potatoes, sweet potatoes, asparagus, yellow tomatoes, onions, rhubarb, zuchini, cucumber, green garlic, strawberries, creme fraiche and kettle chips.

Culinarium also has a great blog which tells you about the items and suggests some recipes. We decided to make the Asparagus Mint Slaw (which was delicious)  and Swiss Chard Salad with Garlicky Yogourt (which was decent, but I think we put a bit too much yogourt and tahini).

For dessert, we had the strawberries and creme fraiche, which was delicious! And the next day we made a pasta sauce with the zuchini and yellow tomatoes.

My thoughts are still involving about our relationship to food, and the environmental and social costs of the industrial food chain. We are still buying conventional food at the grocery store, but this summer I am also eager to check out a variety of farmers’ markets and to continue with the food box program. So far, the food box has brought us lots of joy, and I like how it forces you to cook creatively with things you wouldn’t regularly buy.