Do you want to eat healthy, organically grown food that hasn’t had to travel miles upon miles? Or in our case cross oceans just to get to our plate. If you are shaking your head yes, you should really think about joining a CSA.
What is a CSA you ask? Well, CSA stands for Community Supported Agriculture and when you become a member of a CSA, you are purchasing a “piece” or “share” of the farm’s bounty throughout the growing season. Your money up front goes to supporting a local farm or farms for an entire growing season. With these funds the farmer can easily purchase and prepare for the season. By becoming a member, you have access directly to fresh, high quality organic produce that is grown locally. Sound to good to be true? It’s not.
We did it! We joined the WWOOF CSA here in South Korea. This was actually a big step for us as foreigners living abroad. For the past two weeks we excitedly stroll down to our gate guard shack and pick up our box where we get a selection of amazing certified organic produce grown on local organic Korean farms. I wonder what’s in the box this week we say in unison. My hippy-dippy Tom wearing side loves that we are helping the environment and that we are nourishing our bodies with quality foods that do not use toxic pesticides, or herbicides. Not to mention the taste! I kid you not… organic strawberries are where it’s at and it’s absolutely my jam! I swear you are going to think that I am crazy when I say this, but I can instantly taste the difference between a berry that is grown organically vs. one grown with the use of pesticides and other chemicals. The berries are just so much more flavorful and pure.
The first week started off a bit rocky with delivery, but to be honest it was more or less our complex gate guards that held onto the package and didn’t inform us of the delivery. The box sat in their office for three nights until I contacted the CSA and was helped by the managing director, Joon Lee. Mr. Lee was outstanding and immediately got to work tracking down our package. Once we realized and confirmed that the package had been delivered to our complex and sat there, Mr. Lee said with concern that if any of the produce was spoiled or rotten to contact him back and he would take care of it because quality and the experience was important to him and the CSA. Fortunately we only experienced one moldy strawberry. Nothing we’d ever complain about. I was extremely impressed with the compassion, urgency and overall care that Mr. Lee had all around. Absolutely another reason that I’d promote a CSA to friends or bloggers living in Korea.
The second week we knew what day to grab our package at the guard shack, plus Mr. B also received a telephone call from the delivery man confirming that it had been dropped off that day. Only one broken egg, again nothing we’d every complain about.
We’ve been loving the fact that the ingredients force us to incorporate them into our everyday go to dinners and lunches. We’ve been getting creative and have had to do some research on the unknown items such as the mallow greens. Personally I have LOVED the organic eggs! My mornings have been such a treat knowing that my dippy eggs with a side of toast are coming from happy healthy hens.
So with that said, what did we get in our box you ask?
Week 1
Week 2
If you are living in Korea and are interested in signing up too check out the WWOOF website.
Are you part of a CSA where you live?
Do you frequent farmers markets for your produce?
Organic foods what are your thoughts?
Wow! The boxes of food look so fresh! I’m pretty sure there is something similar in Germany but I’m not sure how to go about it since it’s a mega language barrier (my own fault really). I do visit the Farmers’ Market every Friday. I love getting vegetables and fruits from them. They just taste and look so much fresher. Are those strawberries Korean strawberries? I’ve had them in Singapore and they were so sweet!!!
We got very lucky and they are very friendly and happy to assist foreigners, overall we’ve been delightfully surprised and pleased. Yes, the strawberries are Korea and they are just so sweet and juicy right now! That is awesome you get out to a Farmers Market. I still enjoy pursuing even knowing we have a box weekly. You should try to google and see how it would work in Germany for you.
Aw I love this!
Organic ingredients really do taste better and it’s a good feeling knowing that I won’t have an allergic reaction to fruit and veggies due to pesticides!
I’m so lucky that farmers’ markets are really catching on like wildfire here in Alberta, and a lot of people are starting to realize that supporting local farmers and putting money back into our local economy instead of large corporate chains is the way to go.
This post reminds me of when I was little and in Thailand and I would go with my grandma super early (like 6 AM early) in the morning to look at fresh produce. I just got all nostalgic and teary eyed sitting in inorganic chemistry reading this. I just got teary over vegetables. Oh god.
Thanks for sharing!
Awe! Thank you so much. I’m glad you had fond memories of the market days with your grandma. I am so pleased to hear that you’ve got a great community in Alberta that’s expanding with local farmers! That’s incredible!
Really looks good and fresh!
Janis, Yes! Very fresh!
Oh yes! Very fresh and really delicious! I cannot wait to see what comes next.