Local Food Is for Everyone
This summer, PNWCSA took on a project with a lofty goal: introduce more people to Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) and Double Up Food Bucks while showing that CSA isn't just for experienced cooks and seasoned local-food shoppers. It can be for everyone, regardless of income or experience in the kitchen.
To do that, we took the conversation into the community, hosting a series of cooking demonstrations at Rocky Butte Farmers Market and the Clackamas DHS Free Food Pop-Up.
We brought vegetables grown by PNWCSA member farms and invited two local chefs to cook with them: Chef Gabriella, Culinary Herbalist and Holistic Nutritionist, and Chef Elsy, founder of Creole Me Up. Then we set up where people were already gathering and starting to cook.
The idea was fairly simple: show creative and approachable ways to use seasonal vegetables alongside pantry staples like rice and beans. Participants tasted the food, asked questions, and left with recipes they could recreate at home. And while we cooked, we talked about how SNAP and Double Up Food Bucks can make buying vegetables directly from local farms more affordable.
At Rocky Butte Farmers Market, Gabriella took familiar summer vegetables and put them together in ways that made people stop and pay attention. She made seasonal vegetable and black bean burgers with beets and zucchini, and late-summer polenta bowls with charred zucchini, poblano peppers, pinto beans, corn, and fresh tomato-cilantro relish. The recipes paired vegetables at the height of the season with affordable staples like beans and polenta, the kind of ingredients that can help turn what's in a CSA share or pantry into a meal.
At the Clackamas DHS Free Food Pop-Up, Elsy worked her magic with beets and squash, going beyond roasting and adding to salads. Elsy turned beets and blueberries into salad dressing and lemonade. Squash became roasted relish and creamy hummus.
It was amazing to see the excitement around doing new things with common ingredients. Chef Gabriella and Chef Elsy cooked up unique and inspirational dishes, integrating their own cultural experiences in the recipes. People asked questions, tasted samples, learned about the vegetables, and took recipes home. Kids came over to see what was cooking. Adults lingered to chat. We heard a lot of thank-yous, and across six demonstrations, we connected with hundreds of people.
The food gave us an easy way to start another conversation: why local food is important, and different from the food they purchase in grocery stores. We could talk about what Community Supported Agriculture is and help people find CSA farms near where they live.
And we could share something that surprised a lot of people: SNAP participants can use Double Up Food Bucks to save up to 50% on vegetables through participating CSA farms.
Their reactions were a good reminder that making something affordable doesn't automatically make it accessible. People need to know the program exists, that there are farms near them, and that SNAP can be used to purchase a CSA share. And once that box of seasonal vegetables lands in the kitchen, it helps to have some ideas for turning the share into meals you and your family want to eat.
One of my favorite things about this project was simply being out in the community watching people enjoy food made with vegetables grown by our farms. People shared their personal experiences and ideas, and the knowledge moved in both directions. We were there to cook with our community, learn from each other, eat something good together, and connect people with the farms growing food for them. That's the kind of local, resilient food system we're working to build.
Comments