Interesting CSA Alternative

This is an interesting development in CSAs. Imagine walking to your local restaurant to pick up your box? That's what's happening with this San Francisco restaurant where the chef now also provides a CSA box for pick up.

The boxes are part of chef and co-owner Dennis Lee's Community Supported Agriculture program, launched just two months ago as an alternative to the more traditional farm-to-consumer, subscription-style CSAs.

Filled with manageable amounts of vegetables and fruit for both individuals and families, the program also provides a direct line to the chef. It's about more than just getting ingredients for dinner.

His program allows customers to order a box up to about 36 hours before pickup. For $3 more, no advance orders are required; just walk in on a Sunday morning and purchase one, until they're gone. No need to commit to a weekly service.

A preordered small box, for one to two people, costs $15; a large box, feeding three to four, is $25.

Because the boxes are made up of produce from several farms, the selection can be relatively broad.

The produce is coming from County Line, Star Route, Torosian Farms, Dirty Girl and others, says Lee. A recent crate contained German butterball potatoes, Little Gem lettuce, shiitake mushrooms and lemongrass, among other items.

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/02/23/DD4M1HNJFC.DTL#ixzz1EwT4e97A