This year, I fulfilled a long-time goal: I joined a CSA.
Kind of.
What I really joined was La Ruche Qui Dit Oui (The Hive That Says Yes). I knew a bit about it before joining, but the more I learn, the more I discover: it’s so much more than a CSA.
The premise is that people order food direct from producers via an online system. Each producer puts his or her merchandise online, ranging from produce to cheese to meat to fish, but also small-batch granola, organic soap, raw honey, and juice. Many of the products are organic, and they’re all mega local.
After people have placed their orders online, they meet at a given place at a given time — at my ruche, we meet every Saturday at 10am — to pick up their products. This allows farmers to deliver only what they’re sure they’re going to sell to a designated place and time. Since they aren’t spending the time to bring excess food to markets, for example, where they’d have to stand and sell for at least five hours without being guaranteed a sale, they can price things a bit better, and it’s a win-win for everyone.
At the very beginning of the ruche project, farmers would stay through the distribution — about an hour and a half or so. But the ruche network has grown since its inception, and sometimes farmers don’t have the time to stick around. And that’s where volunteers come in.
Every Saturday morning, four of us distribute the fruits and vegetables, meats and cheeses, breads and cakes that our producers deliver first thing in the morning (via truck, or — sometimes — via mobylette, à la française).
One of the things I love about the ruche is how easy it is to discover new products, both through distribution of orders and through samples that our producers kindly send our way. Every week, I’m on the search for a new addition to my next order.
Chocolate chip brioche?
A patidou squash?
Or maybe a truly enormous loaf of bread.