2 hours ago - Food and Drink
Skip the farmers market with these CSA boxes
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Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios
If you want a box of fruits and vegetables dropped on your doorstep, you might consider signing up for a CSA box.
The big picture: You can buy boxes or sign up for subscriptions from local farms, and they deliver the fresh produce to you, so you don't have to brave the crowds at a farmers market.
- CSA means "community supported agriculture" and is meant to help consumers support local farms.
The pluses: You get a box full of local fruits and vegetables that are all very fresh and tasty.
- It's like guilt-free grocery delivery.
The minuses: Some boxes don't let you choose what produce you get and don't tell you what you're getting ahead of time. That can make planning meals or recipes a bit challenging at times, unless you decide to get creative.
Here are three boxes to try:
🥬 Misfit Foods
- Cost varies depending on what you add to your cart, but orders start at a $35 minimum and ship on a weekly schedule.
- It's easy to sign up for, and emails are received three days before the shopping window closes.
- Unlike a traditional CSA, Misfits lets you customize your box before it ships, so you can swap out produce or add pantry staples, meat and dairy.
- Misfits says it can often offer lower prices than traditional grocery stores because it buys food that might otherwise go unsold or be discounted, including produce with cosmetic imperfections and surplus inventory that could otherwise go to waste.
🥕 Greenhearts Family Farm
- Costs $44 a week and requires signing up for a weekly subscription.
- The produce includes a mix of seasonal fruits and vegetables grown in Half Moon Bay and sourced from other local farms.
- If a subscription isn't your thing, the farm also offers one-off boxes for $45, making it easy to test the service before committing. Delivery is free throughout much of the Bay Area.
🍅 Full Belly Farm
- Costs $27 per pickup box if you buy a four-box package (or less per box with larger bundles) and lets you choose how often you receive deliveries — weekly, every other week or on another schedule that works for you.
- The catch: Full Belly primarily operates as a pickup CSA, with designated pickup sites around the Bay Area instead of doorstep delivery in most cases.
- The flexibility is a nice perk, though, if you don't want another recurring weekly commitment or prefer choosing a pickup location that's convenient.