It’s Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) season again in Northern California. Every year we look forward to the incredible abundance of fresh fruit and vegetables available this time of year through our CSA. If you’re not familiar with CSAs, here’s a little background…

CSA farms operate as partnerships between farmers and members of their surrounding community. CSAs are usually organized around small family farms producing high-quality, organically-grown produce. CSA members pay the farmer up-front at the beginning of the growing season, providing operating capital and sharing in the financial risks of the farm for the year. In return for their investment, members receive weekly “shares” of the crop throughout the harvest season. The quantity and quality of produce in each share is determined by the week’s harvest; early and late season shares are sometimes light, and peak-season shares can be quite abundant. The produce is usually delivered directly to CSA members by the farmer, bypassing normal food distribution channels; doing so provides better value and a fresher product for the consumer while also increasing profits for the farmer.

CSAs provide:

• the peace of mind that comes with personally knowing who grew your food;
• higher quality produce than what is available at supermarkets;
• access to unusual, local products not available at supermarkets;
• higher success rates and financial stability for small farmers;
• mutually agreed upon upfront costs for both farmer and member;
• greater efficiency and less food waste;
• reduced air pollution because of local delivery; and
• many other benefits.

CSAs dovetail nicely into a car-lite lifestyle. Once a week, at a central drop-off point, subscribers receive their shares. The share container size is consistent throughout the season, making transporting by bicycle a breeze.

More Information

Local Harvest
CSAs @ Wikipedia
USDA Alternative Farming Systems

Lake Harriet Community School third-grade teacher Derek Carlson has been leading groups of students on organized bike rides around Lake Harriet for four years now. From the Southwest Journal:

Derek emphasizes fun over fitness, saying he tries to “pass on the sense of fun and freedom he felt as a young rider”. Along with the bike club, he also started Lake Harriet’s bike maintenance class and organized a bike sharing program for students who can’t afford a bicycle but would like to participate. Way to go Derek!

Read the full story →

Greenomanic asked this question over at Daily Kos:

So far, 167 people have responded. The number one reason given is “I live more than 15 miles from work.” Second is “There is not a safe route available.”

It’s the same old story: sprawl and a lack of bicycling infrastructure continue to be the most difficult obstacles we face.

Daily Kos →

Photo © Madness Rivera

Madness Rivera over at Mad Organica posted an inspiring story about her experience participating in the 9th Annual L.A. River Ride put on by the L.A. County Bicycle Coalition. She put in a great performance on the ride, completing the 50 miles in 3:15, but what I enjoyed most about the story is her ability to see beauty where others see only blight:

Read the story @ Mad Organica →

“You can’t always get what you want
But if you try sometimes, you just might find
You get what you need”

People who know me, know that a flashy single-speed/fixie is not necessarily my taste in bikes, but as fate would have it, an SE Lager unexpectedly fell into our laps at precisely the right moment (read about it here). See, we’ve been encouraging our daughter to start riding again, but like any kid her age would be, she’s more than a little embarrassed to be seen on her Dad’s nerdy commuter bikes. Apparently, SE has done their homework and understands their demographic well, because unlike the various Civias, Pahsleys, and Surlys hanging around the EcoVelo compound—all of which were rejected by the teen crowd—the Lager passes muster with flying colors. We’re looking forward to seeing the kid on a bike again — thanks SE!

SE Lager →

Many thanks to Princeton Tec and SE Bikes for hosting the “Got Lights on Bikes” photo contest and providing the grand prize SE Lager shown above.

In my mind, the ultimate symbol of our throw away culture is bottled water. The fact that companies can take something that is already delivered to our homes for practically free, bottle it, put a fancy label on it, ship it across the country (or around the world), and charge good money for it, is a real hat-trick. There’s nothing magical though, about the amount of energy consumed and the amount of waste created to sustain this practice. Consider the following:

• There is no assurance that bottled water is any cleaner or safer than water from the tap. In fact, an estimated 25 percent or more of bottled water is tap water in a bottle — sometimes further treated, sometimes not.
• Approximately 22 percent of the bottled water brands tested by the Natural Resources Defense Council contained, in at least one sample, chemical contaminants at levels above state health limits.
• In 2006, the equivalent of 2 billion (that’s illion with a “B”) half-liter bottles of water were shipped to U.S. ports, creating thousands of tons of global warming pollution and other air pollution.
• Approximately 1.5 million barrels of oil — enough to run 100,000 cars for a whole year — are used to make disposable plastic water bottles, while transporting these bottles burns even more oil.
• Most bottled water comes in recyclable PET plastic bottles, but only about 13 percent of the bottles are recycled. In 2005, 2 million tons of plastic water bottles ended up in landfills.

Fortunately we’re seeing more people using refillable bottles such as those from Klean Kanteen, Sigg, and Nalgene. We’re also seeing more companies offering refillable bottles to promote their business and establish their green-cred (some may call this “greenwashing”, but hey, if it raises awareness, I’m all for it).

Never one to be out of the loop on these matters, Swobo, maker of urban bikes and bike clothing, has introduced a new BPA, DEHA, and DEHP-free water-bottle-with-a-twist called the Tap Water I. Here’s the scoop:

Printed on one side of the bottle is a letter to Nestle Waters North America expressing the bottle owner’s disapproval of bottled water. On the other side is a mailing panel on which the appropriate postage can be placed for sending the entire water bottle to Nestle (no liquids please).

I’m sure the point isn’t so much to actually send the bottle to Nestle (hopefully you’ll just keep using it), but the Tap Water I should spark some interesting conversations and raise awareness if nothing else. Oh yeah, and it looks like a pretty nice bottle too.

Swobo →
Tap Water I →