The Loma Prietan
November 2001
Eating Green: Local CSAs: Sustainably Produced Fresh Produce
by Kay Bushnell
One by one they came up the walk of
a Palo Alto residence carrying an empty bushel basket, which they stacked neatly on top of other empty baskets. Waiting
for them on the front porch were about
20 identical baskets filled with the day’s harvest of vegetables.
Each person who picked up a basket
of fresh produce is a shareholder in the Community Sustainable Agriculture (CSA) project of Hidden Villa in Los Altos Hills. Hidden Villa is a nonprofit farm and wilderness preserve with a strong focus on sustainability in managing its lands. CSAs have sprung up throughout the United States to help small-scale and family farmers to survive. Participants in a CSA purchase a portion of a farm’s harvest up-front. The farm benefits by receiving money at the beginning of the season when expenses are greatest. The shareholders benefit by receiving fresh, organic food from the garden they helped to fund. Portions of produce from Hidden Villa
are provided in two sizes. This season (May though November) a full share in Hidden Villa’s CSA costs $740 and a half share costs $450. Hidden Villa’s Farm is an accredited California Certified Organic Farm (CCOF).
Shareholder Elizabeth Lorenz says that her participation in the CSA has made
her more aware of how pests, deer, and weather affect a gardening venture. She keeps abreast of these factors and the seasonal aspects of the farm’s production by reading the CSA’s newsletter.
Marianna Keller, another shareholder, finds that involving her children in the project has expanded their dietary horizons. She has taken her eight-year-old twins to garden at Hidden Villa’s farm, where they made burritos by stuffing a lettuce leaf with broccoli, carrots, beans, and “ate it on the spot.” Keller sometimes brings her twins when she picks up her weekly basket. She says, “I bring them when they’re hungry. Once they polished off a whole head of cauliflower by the time we got home.”
Keller feels that visiting Hidden Villa’s garden and feasting on the weekly harvest through the CSA has another positive effect on her children: “It helps kids to fall in love with nature.”
Margalynne Armstrong was inspired to become a shareholder and support organic gardening after hearing Dolores Huerta, co-founder with Cesar Chavez of United Farm Workers of America, say that one of the biggest issues for farm workers is pesticide exposure. Armstrong says, “This way I help keep pesticides away from farm workers and out of my family’s food.”
Although shareholders are not required to work in Hidden Villa’s garden, many enjoy doing so. Ed Hale, who moved to the Bay Area from the Midwest over a year ago, says that he enjoys his volunteer gardening at Hidden Villa. He believes that an important part of a CSA’s environmental education is to involve those who eat the food in growing it.
Shareholders can pick up their weekly baskets at two neighborhood drop-off points or at Hidden Villa in Los Altos Hills. For more information: 650/949-8647 or . Another CSA, Full Belly Farm in Guinda, California, delivers boxes of organic produce to families in the Bay Area beginning in December. For information: 510/528-8630 or .
Yam Casserole
Here is an amazingly easy and delicious dish that takes minutes to prepare, once the yams are baked. The casserole can be prepared a day or two ahead and baked before serving.
5 large garnet yams
1/2 cup finely chopped almonds
1 cup bread crumbs, preferably whole grain
(2-3 pieces of bread, crumbled between your hands)
2-6 tablespoons soft spread such as Spectrum Spread OR canola oil
Prewarm oven to 375°. Place the yams on a flat baking dish or a cookie sheet covered with baking paper or foil. Bake them in a 450° oven for about 45-60 minutes, or until they are soft when squeezed. Preheat oven to 375°. Remove skins and mash yams with a fork or potato masher until they are fluffy and smooth. Spoon yams into an oiled shallow baking dish about 9” x 13” and smooth the top.
Topping: Measure nuts and set them aside. Over moderate heat warm the Spectrum Spread in a skillet, and add bread crumbs and nuts, stirring thoroughly until Spectrum Spread is well distributed. Sprinkle the topping mixture evenly over the mashed yams.
Bake uncovered at 375° for 30 minutes or until yams are heated through and the topping is lightly browned.
Serves 4-6
Copyright Kay Bushnell