To find different varieties of vegetables that are locally grown, head to a farmers market or get a CSA subscription.

With the approach of Earth Day and spring, we yearn for fresh vegetables and local ingredients. It’s even on the mind of First Lady Michelle Obama, who recently broke ground on a kitchen garden at the White House. (For more information on starting your own jardin potager, check out “Turn Over a New Leaf” in VIVmag’s latest issue.) But city dwellers without a community garden plot or those without green thumbs can easily find organic, sustainable food by visiting websites such as the Eat Well Guide and Local Harvest.

On the Local Harvest site, you can find a nearby farm that offers a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) subscription, which usually runs from late spring through early fall. Subscribers typically pay a set fee and then pick up a weekly basket of fresh produce at the farm or pickup point.

Also worth checking out is the website of Slow Food USA, which promotes food made from healthy plants and animals and harvested by fairly treated workers. Though the Slow Food philosophy is not entirely about eating locally, Slow Food USA’s Jerusha Klemperer notes, “Buying local is often your best bet from many perspectives, most importantly, taste.” Slow Food also focuses on nutritious food that is grown and harvested with methods good for ecosystems; the movement’s Ark of Taste promotes biodiversity by educating consumers about vegetables, fruits and farm breeds in danger of extinction.

We think that a CSA subscription would be a delicious way to treat our palate to healthy and delicious foods and avoid kitchen ennui. Do any CSA subscribers want to share recipe resources for some unusual veggies or tips for utilizing all the weekly items?

Photo credit: Gina Fiorillo-Brady

Tags: Agricultural economics, Arkansas, Community, Community gardening, Community Supported Agriculture, Community-based organizations, Earth Day, Environment, food, Food politics, Hospitality/Recreation, Kitchen garden, Michelle Obama, nutritious food, Rural community development, slow food, Sociology, Sustainability, sustainable food, Sustainable food system, the Eat Well Guide, VIVmag, White House