After my last post about watching Food Inc. and how I was doing with vegetarianism, I really started to think about what Ian said about me not doing the world any favors by eating the genetically modified vegetables sold in the grocery store.

And so I signed us up for a CSA (community supported agriculture). Every two weeks until Spring I will head over to Climb Nashville to meet the truck and pick up our share of locally, naturally grown vegetables (and occasionally pastas, jams and sauces, or whatever else they decide to throw in the box). The farm is called Avalon Acres, and is based in Hohenwald, Tenn. They also have numerous Amish farmers who bake, raise free-range animals for meat and grow vegetables for them as well.

Besides the peace that comes with knowing that I’m eating non-genetically modified food, I feel good that I’m helping out a local farm—and all the benefits that come with that (supporting local economies, cutting down on emissions caused by trucking food thousands of miles, etc.).

And it’s exciting not knowing exactly what we’re going to get each time I go to pick up. Last week was our first shipment, and it was a cornucopia of vegetables I did not recognize. (Thanks to everyone on Twitter who responded to my queries instead of just laughing at my dumb ass.) As it turns out, we received turnips (large and regular), turnip greens, white radishes, a bunch of still unidentified greens, peach preserves, canned green beans, homemade pasta sauce and homemade pasta. I was so stoked so see that big-ass bag of pasta in the box—I had been hoping for that the most since I read what we *might* get when we signed up.

The other thing that’s cool about the CSA is that we have had to learn how to cook new things. Neither Ian nor I had ever had (let alone cooked) turnips before, and while we knew how to cook greens, we didn’t realize how bitter they are fresh from the farm compared to in a can (how we normally eat them). Ian got a little creative the other night and roasted some white radishes and turnips, and they were SO GOOD. I think our green-cooking process needs a bit of refining, but they were still pretty tasty, so I think we’re getting there.

I wish I would have realized how easy it was to participate in a CSA, because I would have done it years ago. If you are concerned about the Monsanto-tainted food you’re buying from the grocery store or just want to support a local farm, I strongly suggest you look into Avalon Acres’ CSA program. It’s very affordable, super easy to pick up (they have numerous pickup locations twice a week throughout Nashville, Franklin and even one in Murfreesboro) and the people have been great (I really grilled them before I signed up, and I appreciate Angel answering all of my crazy questions).

And don’t worry, carnivores—you can buy free-range (and sans hormones and antibiotics) beef, chicken and pork from them, too.

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