Bell Organics Co-Op

For the past 8 weeks, I have been volunteering 4 hours/week at Bell Organics, a local CSA. CSA stands for Community Supported Agriculture, and it run slightly different than a Co-op (Co-Operative), but the idea is basically the same: you pay a price and pick up a share or box of locally grown food. My dad found Bell Organic and, as a (very generous) Christmas present, purchased me a summer veggie share. I started getting their emails, and found out that I could volunteer and receive an extra veggie share, or in my case, 2 extra fruit shares! Knowing how much food I eat, this was an offer I couldn't refuse! Sure, eating this way is expensive, but finding ways to cut corners like this (or buying in bulk, making friends at the farmer's markets, shopping at Costco...) really can make all the difference...not to mention it's delicious, AND organic!

 Volunteering has meant doing one of three things: planting, weeding, or harvesting. It has been the perfect amount of gardening for me, as a novice. I go for a long, hot shift, get my hands nice and dirty, learn about placement of certain crops, natural pesticides, and composting, then call it a day and don't have to think about it for another week. The Bell family farms on a huge scale of 25+ acres (compared to my future garden), and it can be mind-boggling to think of all the hard work that goes into making it succeed. Patiently squinting down at the weeds drowning around the tiny fragile carrots, aggressively whacking down kale, chard, and lettuce, bending over backwards to plant 2,500+ tomato plants in dozens of varieties; this is just an average days work of food production on the farm. This last week I spent most of the shift wading through a maze of pea vines, picking the obvious ones inching towards the sun, then picking up the vine and feeling the drooping weight of...more peas? Within arms length I could easily find enough sugar snap peas to hold me over til my next meal. The density of this and all of their other crops has me nearly dumbfounded on a weekly basis!

Working extremely part-time on a family operated farm has changed the way I look at food. Good food means hard work. Hard work should pay well. Therefore, good quality food ultimately costs more. The shorter of a chain to which you pay your money, the more money the farmer earns. So next time you pass a farm stand on your way to the grocery store, give it a chance and try what they have to offer. Regardless of where you end up buying your food, remember: whole, fresh, ripe, raw, organic, and if possible, local really is best.