1 November 14

Supporting the Student Farm

I have to make a big confession here: I’m not a fan of the Davis Farmers’ Market. It was one of the big selling points about Davis, and when we told people we were moving here from Santa Barbara they drooled. When I got here I admit to wondering where the rest of it was… It’s tiny compared to so many of the markets I grew up around in Spain and France. I guess I am a fan up to a point: I think it’s a wonderful place to go and socialize and enjoy good music and pretty stalls and it’s a great place to sit and spin, under the big valley oak, but for buying vegetables and fruit? Not really.

Here’s how it goes: I have, in my head, that I need to buy carrots, leeks, turnips and parsley for a soup base, along with several leafy greens and whatever else. I get there. I peruse the 4-5 organic sellers. Not one of them has all four items. In fact, I can’t find turnips anywhere in the whole market, so I end up spending $50 on stuff I didn’t come here for and end up at the Co-op anyway. It just doesn’t work for me. I know people love it and I really want to support local growers but I can buy what I need from local growers at the Co-op. (I haven’t put in a garden this year because of the drought.)

We have recently gone in with a friend on a CSA box from the UC Davis Student Farm, which is organic. The past three weeks have seen us awash in vegetables and fruit. Nothing has gone to waste. We are getting things picked three hours before we get them, and it has forced us to be creative about getting things cooked quickly. Delicious food. Stuff I ignore week after week at the Co-op. I even used dill in the soup this week, which was a stretch for this dill-averse girl.

Even half a box is almost too much for us vegetarians. But not quite. We are throwing nothing out.

We got half an inch of rain yesterday, it’s definitely soup weather. And the students know how to grow turnips…

Posted by at 07:30 AM in Sustainability | Link |

Previous: Next: