Fresh and Local CSA

We had a really good experience with the Fresh and Local CSA. I will say that I got the feeling newsletters were not an area of expertise for them (especially with formatting/​general language, etc) — but what they did send was interesting and I learned a lot about the weather and vegetables that were grown.
One week, they had asked if anyone wanted any okra, which is not typically something most people wanted in their CSA share. We gladly accepted for one of my husbands favorite recipes — and every week after that — we would always find a bag of okra in our share. I really liked talking to Maura at the Farmer’s Market and thought both of them were just very kind, very sweet people that know how to grow their vegetables well. I didn’t have the chance to volunteer with them… it didn’t work out for us timewise — but get the feeling I would have learned a lot from the opportunity. Their farm was one we would drive by each day — and they were constantly out there working.
Their eggs and chicken are also very good.

I worked with Allan for 7 months in 2006 in an apprenticeship that can only be described as Full Time Squared. Allan is one of the most passionate and courageous farmers I have met in years in the food movement. During our apprenticeship we attended many food conferences and hosted Farmer John (of The Real Dirt on Farmer John documentary). Allan’s expertise and tireless dedication has made an indelible impression on my work as a farmer, food activist, and food lover.

Allan and Maura, grow food that is energetically and nutritionally superior to many of the foods grown in our region! It’s one of the few biodynamic farms in the area. If you’re not familiar with biodynamic farming and its significance, please check the Biodynamic Farming and Gardening Association (
).
In addition to the great food, Allan and Maura are very much involved in the local foods movement and our committed to education and outreach in the local community and Washington DC. I suggest a visit to the Balliet’s farm so you can get a sense of their commitment to the land and the people for whom they grow nutritious, yummy foods! It’s a great operation.
A final note, unlike many other CSAs that partner with other farms to bring food to their subscribers (some inform their shareholders of this, others not so much), I know that all of the food in the shares is coming from their farm. The Balliets can vouch for everything that is happening with my food from seed to plate. :)

I joined Unilocal just to warn people about Fresh and Local. We signed up for a 2011 share and it’s been incredibly disappointing. $ 600 for 18 weeks is actually $ 600 for 15 weeks because of the weeks that it’s not delivered. And for that price (somewhere between $ 33 and $ 40 per week), we got about $ 4 worth of (bad) produce. We’re talking sometimes ¹⁄₃ of a grocery bag, and always less than half a bag.
For the first five or six weeks, we got the same thing: some wilted lettuce and dirty potatoes. There was usually also a sandwich bag of stevia (who in the heck uses stevia?), a fistful of greens (about half a serving when you cook them), and eventually some over-​ripe tomatoes that exploded all over my counter. One week we got corn, but the worms in it had eaten most of the kernels. It got to the point where my compost pile ate more of our F&L than we did. At least their basil was good, but so was mine from my herb garden. I was paying for vegetables.
I can get over the fact that F&L isn’t good at growing vegetables, or at least did a terrible job of managing expectations of its customers. Their web site lists dozens of different vegetable that we could expect, like several different squashes, cucumbers, several different types of greens. We didn’t get that stuff. But the single worst part: Farmer Allen.
The first commenter is right on. Farmer Allen’s emails are at least trite, and usually demanding and outright infuriating. Here’s an excerpt. It’s from the general distirbution list (sorry, Maura, you’re wrong):
«No one, I repeat, with the exception of Brooke from Shepherdstown, no one from the CSA has been out to help for weeks now. We have lots of simple weeding tasks that we really need the help of additional hands for. If you can come out now, please do. (But, as I always say: If you don’t want to, don’t feel that you have to!) Fortunately, several non-​CSA people who are filled with passion for the plight of the small local farm have started helping at the farm a few hours a week.»
Screw you, Allen! Your customers are in DC, don’t have cars, and are paying you to grow food and bring it to them! Allen, I’m paying you for a service: to bring me vegetables. I want the delivery, quantity, and quality to justify the $ 30-​$ 40 I pay you each week. Don’t complain that I don’t come to West Virignia to pick them for you. If I were going to do that, I would just grow them myself. Don’t complain about working outside or in the rain: you chose to be a farmer and I don’t care. You were sick one week. That’s fine. But give me a refund for the weeks that you didn’t come, or ESPECIALLY didn’t have enough vegetables (!?wtf?!?) to justify a delivery.
Are there bright points… yes. They have good chicken and really good eggs. I would even consider just getting chickens and eggs next year and forgoing the vegetables. And some of his assistants (Maura? Mary?) seem genuinely friendly and more than willing to go out of their way to help. One way they could help is by kicking Allen off of the email and managing the communications, as Allen’s emails are a leading reason – after the poor quality and/​or total lack of the shares – that we won’t be using F&L next year.

My 2010 share has been beyond disappointing. Farmer Alan sends emails with excuses of why the shares are so small. My favorite emails have been those chastising the members for not volunteering at the farm, an email about 3 weeks into the season indicating there would be no share deliveries that week, and an email berating shareholders for not picking up their shares. I found this last email interesting, considering the CSA did not make deliveries one week. So they can skip a week, but will criticize me if I do the same.
I bought into this CSA based on the convenient pickup location and date. However, the date changed after they cashed my check. The CSA did not notify me or provide other options for me. Nice.
All in all, this experience has been very disappointing and I’d caution others to get more feedback before you buy a 2011 share. There are a lot of other better options out there.