Why a CSA Is the Most Important Subscription You Can Have
Long before I ever tended soil, I was paying attention to food.
In New York City, abundance masked a problem. Produce that didn’t last. Food that looked perfect but felt empty. Access everywhere, quality inconsistent. Then I moved to Queens, where diversity showed me what food could be. Bitter melon, kohlrabi, watercress, potatoes I’d never seen, varieties of choi I couldn’t pronounce. It felt like winning the lottery.
And then I moved to Los Angeles—and lost it all.
Access changed. Food deserts appeared in places I never expected. Without a car, deep in my vegan era, every day revolved around one question: How am I going to eat well and afford it? Back in New York, I could bike home with full handlebars of produce for under $40. That reality disappeared.
I adapted. Farm Fresh to You. Imperfect Foods. Co-ops. Local farms. Food subscriptions became survival, and eventually, purpose. To this day, my favorite gift to give is food.
When I moved to Hawaiʻi during the pandemic, access shifted again. Farms were nearby, but systems were fragile. That’s when I discovered Farmlink and small CSA programs. I began to understand how vital these offerings are, not just for eaters, but for farmers.
Buying direct matters. Every middleman takes their cut while charging you for transport, storage, marketing, and convenience. A CSA removes the noise. It’s an investment contract between the grower and the community that supports the 30–120-day period required for a seed to become food. This is how farms plan. This is how food stays abundant.
A CSA is as important as health insurance. It’s preventative care. If fresh food is in your home, it finds its way into your body. It reshapes habits. It invites curiosity. It asks you to say yes to what’s growing instead of being picky with something as essential as nourishment.
Secure your share or gift one to a friend.
