I became a CSA member

In an effort to eat healthier, I decided to buy a share in a local CSA, Community-Supported Agriculture. This is the first time I acted on the thought to join a CSA and my recent health scare was the impetuous to truly think about what I am eating and how it affects me. Still, there are many reasons why I decided buying a part share in a CSA:

I only have a small garden plot.
My house came with a single 9' x 9' raised garden bed for growing fruits and vegetables. As I realized too late to correct, the soil was in poor condition and was not suitable for growing much of anything. I plan to correct that this year, but it does not leave me much space for growing my own veggies. I have to plan carefully and consider what I want to eat before planting. If I want more produce, I will need to buy it.

I am buying locally grown produce
The farm I chose is within 25 minutes of my home and delivers to the farmer's market close to where I work. I know my own limitations and making it easy for me to pick up my vegetables is a good thing. With my participation, I am helping an organic farmer stay in business, he gives me produce weekly and I eat better and lessen my harm to the environment when trucking the veggies for my table because he is local.

I will improve my diet and my heath by consuming organic produce.
By paying for the privilege of having fresh produce delivered to me at work and then bringing it home weekly, I will have to eat the food. I cannot let money go to waste and it will introduce me to new veggies that I had not considered before. Otherwise, I am going to have really expensive compost!

My insurance company gives me a rebate for healthier eating.
To lessen the cost of investment in a CSA, my insurance company will pay half the cost of a share up to $100. That is, if I pay $350 for my share, I will get a $100 rebate. This lowers the price of my veggie investment as I figure out if I can handle having a weekly delivery of produce. I may find that this is all too much, but I may also thrive and enjoy it.

When I chose the CSA farm I did, I shopped around to find the lowest cost share that had a delivery close to work or home. The latter part would be my greatest obstacle even if I did not want to pay a lot of money upfront. This is an investment in my health and after dealing with the effects of mismanagement of my eating habits, this is well worth money spent if I can eat better and live healthier.