Many of you have probably heard of Community Supported Agriculture, or CSA for short. It’s a program set up by local farms that allows you to pay up front at the beginning of the growing season, and then receive a generous box of produce (and sometimes locally produced products as well) each week. Depending on what’s ready that week and what the farm grows, you can receive any number of fruits and vegetables and there’s more than enough volume and variety to make healthy and interesting meals.
Yesterday, a friend posted something on my Facebook wall that carries on the theme of CSAs. It’s the first CSF or Community Supported Fisheries project in the New Haven area in Connecticut started by the Thimble Island Oyster Company. Members who join receive a dozen oysters and two dozen clams every month for six months from June thru November. The Cape Ann CSF in Massachusetts provides several pounds of fish per week, depending on the shares purchased.
It’s everyone’s responsibility, consumers as well as producers, to help maintain sustainable food sources. Supporting local fisherman who follow environmentally-friendly practices ensures that this happens. If you’re concerned about the environment, want to help preserve the waterways and their ecosystems, want to support environmentally conscious fishermen, and have direct access to local seafood, then joining a CSF is a great idea for you.
CSFs are in operation from Maine to California for those living close the shore. And if you’re further inland, you can still have an impact by choosing ocean-friendly fish and seafood. This pocket guide can help you make the safest and most sustainable choices.
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