I recently emailed my take on things to my CSA, R Heritage Farms, and I would like to share it with others who may be looking for the right fit for them:
To R Heritage Farms:
I am so glad I found you at the Des Moines Farmers Market. Your CSA is the perfect fit for singles, seniors and couples looking for humanely raised free range pork, poultry and eggs, but not necessarily a full produce plan. At this stage, a produce plan would be more veggies than I can use in a weeks time. So, supporting local farmers at a Farmers Market is more practical than a CSA with produce as it allows me to buy only the veggies I need. Having access to the meat, poultry and eggs you provide is just right, things are packaged in sizes that work for small households so, no need to repackage when I get home. More important, I feel the pork and chicken you produce is healthier and safer than what you get in the stores and the eggs are wonderful. As an added bonus, your membership plan has no seasonal cut off dates - members can just "reload" their membership. It is also very important to me to join a newer CSA in the earlier stages and I hope my membership helps you move forward. I am so grateful for the ethical treatment of animals in the program you have, where they are so well treated, well fed, allowed to roam and responsibly and humanely processed. We need more CSAs to get back to healthier food for healthier people. You have my vote as a fantastic choice and I will be continuing membership. Please feel free to use my comments in any way that you feel would spread the word about the advantages of your CSA program and thank you for all your hard work and the loving stewardship of your animals. Christine Exley Des Moines