TESTIMONIALS
Most of the quotes below are a sampling unsolicited positive feedback from members over the years. Others come from member surveys which we periodically send out.
I cracked two organic pasture raised chicken-eggs from the farmers market and then two from the ashram provider. Guess which are which! Amazing!!! --Happy Member S. Kalb
Your group has been responsive and outstanding in managing this ambitious project and for that my whole family is grateful. We learned as a family and we appreciated being part of this community. Spiritual Food CSA has been my favorite CSA for just this reason; there is such a diversity of wonderful food available each week that you can really base your meal planning on the shares. Pantry goods, citrus, dates, bread, eggs, fruit, vegetables, grains! It's amazing. Thanks again! -- Chrissy Wiginton
I really can't say enough positive things about the CSA and everyone who makes it possible. Speaking of the good food, the other night we had some guests over for dinner and made them believers. I think we'll have two more people contacting you to join the CSA and participate in the dairy program. ….They've been fed up with the trash at the grocery stores for a while now and when they tried what we had gotten from our share they were really blown away. I sent them the info on the CSA so they can read up on it and contact you. -- Max Montague
Can't say how much we have enjoyed being a part of the CSA this winter--eating organic, local and seasonal food has made an enormous difference in our lives and we love feeling a part of the wider community! -- Sunny Kaplan
“We eat healthier and better. Has challenged us to develop some different recipes which has helped our creativity.” –from Member Survey
“I like the increased variety, which has effected a change for me, in that I now primarily plan my meals around what I get or have received in my share instead of just having it supplement what I get at Whole Foods. And this allows us to eat mostly biodynamic food, which we are increasingly valuing!” –from Member Survey
“It gets me to try new food and puts the emphasis on veggies and whole grains (where I believe it belongs). –from Member Survey
Given the disturbing erosion of moral and social values in the world around us, it is a great privilege to be part of such an evolved social initiative that gives us access to the highest quality food (of whatever quantity is available!) and inspires the highest in us as human beings at the same time. In gratitude, Shelia Johns
Everything that we got yesterday and today is delicious and tastes very different from regular store and it reminds me of home [from foreign country.] -- Anastasia Martynova
“I'm much more flexible about what I cook, basing it on what's available.”—from Member Survey
Love the foods, the farm, the connection to others in the CSA and the full circle support of good, sustainable practice that comes from this mutual effort. -- Russ Watts
“I try two new recipes each week!” --from Member Survey
I actually like the fact that the content changes according to the season…. We are family of 5, with frequent visitors, and all of us are very very happy with this CSA! Becoming a member has been one of the best decisions we've made :) -- Miki Hernandez
“Willingness to pay more for food because I can tell a difference and understand how much work goes into providing chemical free food.” –from Member Survey
My family has so enjoyed all the delicious food that we have had from the CSA. Often times at our meals I think that here we are eating this nutritious food and others in the CSA community are at the same time doing the same thing. I am grateful to you, Victor and the farmers who have nourished our family with healthy, nutrition dense and clear energy food! -- Virgina Ibara
“In general I think we're healthier and have moved toward buying all organic foods and being more mindful about waste, recycling, composting.” --from Member Survey
I am not an affluent Washingtonian, but a struggling single parent and I have to watch every penny. (I get a half share on a payment plan...) I can not think of a better investment than food security and supporting local biodynamic agriculture. If I am paying money that partially goes for keeping sustainable farming practices afloat while we suffer the odd bad season, I am proud to do it. Farming is sacred work, and I am grateful to eat food that is produced by people who know that. -- Michele M.
“You have to get much more creative and learn to work with what you have, as opposed to planning a menu, making a list and preparing a meal. I feel really great about the food that is prepared in our home and feel more educated about food production. I enjoy the community when I have the time to participate with events.” --from Member Survey
“I LOVE the center sooo much and am so grateful for everyone's karma yoga and beautiful spirit.” Christine Peterson
1. I have higher energy levels.
2. I get sick less often.
3. I can go six hour between meals. (I used to only make it four hours or less.)
4. Foods and restaurant food I used to like does not taste good to me now. Some of it makes me sick.
5. I am significantly overweight and I have lost some weight. (I am making no effort to lose weight.)
6. I am starting to be a competent if not a good cook. –from Member Survey
Based on my association with the Spiritual Food people over many years, they have bent over backward to advise when organic is being substituted for biodynamic, and for keeping share prices as light as possible, while still providing the small farmers a fair return. -- John De Rosa
“New recipes, new veggies, big pots of soup or stew during the winter which we enjoy ourselves and delivering some to our wonderful neighbors with a loaf of bread- it does not get any better then sharing our bounty.” --from Member Survey
The CSA is not a distributor making money. They are helping those of us in the city link up with a farm that follows the principles they maintain. -- Mark Stoneman
Being a member of the CSA is definitely, somehow, helping me to advance my "organizational skills" (normally about 2 on scale of 10)...an added benefit, in addition to the vitamins [in the food].
The CSA is amazing! I somehow managed to use all (with sharing some food I made)-- waste nothing, and being very creative! For me, the contents of the bag of food are nothing short of magic and miracle! I start to cook now before I go to work...it is nice, I am grateful to have found this! –Anon
“I am even more glad of the beans now that info is coming out about BPA being in many can linings.”—from Member Survey
“Definitely been eating a more balanced diet and see that my girls seem to be doing better over all. Very healthy children, mainly due to their diet.”—from Member Survey
“We're eating a lot more complete proteins, as vegetarians. we've been progressively more diligent about cooking everything.” –from Member Survey
“I had to use my stock of beans and had to find recipes that my family liked. Now beans are one of my favorite foods.” -- from Member Survey
“My autistic 20-year old son seems to be rediscovering food and awaits his meals with great anticipation. He used to like vegetables and fruit when he was 0 to 5 years old and we were living in France and then started to really dislike them when we arrived here although I was buying "organic" produce. My husband was not convinced at the beginning, so I sent him to Whole Foods with the exact list of the share at least 4 different times (once with yogurt and eggs, the other with bread and cheese), and now he is convinced because he knows he would be paying way more for less quality. My teenage daughter and I are real food "snobs" and are delighted with the whole CSA experience. Personally I have not had a sneeze since I started and I also digest better and sleep better (and I am an insomniac).” --- From Member Survey
Small share this week but great produce!!!. I am so grateful for the sweet corn we have had the last 2 weeks. It is the first time we are enjoying corn during the year, as in the market it is 100% GMO. This morning, while looking into the fridge for what to do for lunch, found the eggplant, tomatoes, some red peppers and a cabbage. We had a tasty salad with roasted eggplant and steamed corn. We felt so much gratitude for having the CSA available to us, not having to rush to the store to search for veggies that cannot be eaten without fear, and having a share of exquisite, delicious, fresh and pure vegetables, eggs, and bread.
Love the greens, the garlic scapes. The raw cheddar is a special treat and, last but not least, the mango is fantastic. The flavor of the CSA mango is extraordinarily delicious. No mangos in the supermakets compare to this one. The massaged kale salad is fantastic, I use olive and/or raw sesame oil, and lemon or lime juice and sing a mantra while massaging it . I also mix in red and white cabbage and massage the three of them together. It has become my favorite salad!!!! Sometimes I add chopped tomato and parsley of cilantro at the time of serving...for a yummy and refreshing salad....One more thing, sometimes I add shredded turnips.... mmmmmm
THANK YOU and much love to our farmers... Raquel Gomez
LETTERS:
I have been a member of Spiritual Food for many (8-9) years and have served in various volunteer positions with the SFCSA and its related projects. In fact I built their first web site, which lead me to read much of the teachings of Rudolf Steiner on agriculture, also leading me to read the nutritional teachings of Gerhardt Schmidt’s, one of Steiner’s prominent disciples on food and nutrition. This information lead me to read much of what Steiner lectured on and took us to the closest Waldorf School with our two children. There recently I have taken on building a Zero Waste, non-violent, sustainable school kitchen with parent volunteers based on Steiner’s teachings and the mode in which this CSA operates.
My family and children eat the food of the SFCSA and we also eat as first priority the other food items distributed by the Shanti Yoga Center. I have been baking all my bread from the biodynamic flour, making my kefir, yogurt, cottage cheese from the biodynamic milk, and I make my butter from the biodynamic cream as well. Over the years the selection of the food offered by this community has gotten so much better that now about 50% - 60% of the food ingredients needed at the school kitchen cooking mentioned above may be sourced from here. This is amazing!! What a work this Center is producing! I also own an Organic Farmer Certification in my country of origin where we have been growing vegetables and fruit as best as we can according to these principles for our family there. -- Eszter Szabo
I feel so fortunate and blessed. Creativity will always help is to make delicious meals from whatever the share is. Adding chunks of the bread, when its gone a few days old, to whatever is sautéed in the pot. Adding beans or grains in to thicken things up. These are the beautiful roots of the so-called "peasant foods" that are the richest tasting and most satisfying cuisines in the world, in my opinion. I would much rather have smaller shares of healthy food and be able to help keep the farmers going, and our healthy and vitality as well, then for a moment think of backing out. Through sticking together in a small harvest or in a bountiful one, we share and create community. I feel this, even though it is rarely possible for me to be with the other members. Life is ups and downs...that is natural. The every-day same wasy of being able to get anything you want, at any time, is so removed from nature, and makes for laziness and disconnectedness.
I feel so blessed and it is without shame I say that I do even kiss the vegetables with my heart!!
Thank you, beautiful community, people, food. Our hearts love you all. -- Cassandra Krahan
It is always important to reach for higher quality as much as we can, demand for our rights to clean and nutritious food, and especially educate ourselves and others about farming practices (and going back to the land and to nature) so that we all have the knowledge ourselves rather than relying on other people to "take care of" things for us and trusting that this is so.
Several years ago, I had some of the most delicious orange juice that someone had fresh-squeezed and shared with me. These oranges came from a source of the Spiritual Food CSA and I even talked with the farmer over the phone to ask him questions about his farming methods. Shortly after, I joined the CSA because I believe the food to be of much better quality than anything out there on the market. After 3 years of eating a higher quality food that was bagged and organized by caring, like-minded people working together, I was inspired by the whole Spiritual Food CSA experience and this is why I decided to drop my whole "successful" life and move to Ecuador to learn how to expand these ideas, to live simpler and grow my own food without chemicals.
The Spiritual Food CSA has been a wonderful gift over the years and doesn't even compare to the "fake", expensive organic food that Whole Foods and other grocery stores supply to the public. Most of their produce comes from faraway places including bananas from South Africa! How crazy is that? I and many others could see and taste the difference with the food supplied by our Spiritual Food CSA. And yes, I do believe that spiritual, non-self serving people are making this bounty available to us with the intention of finding the cleanest, healthiest food possible. It is not easy finding clean food and running a co-op as I have been learning here what it takes to run one and all the problems that come with it.
And most of all, thank you to the Spiritual CSA that has given me inspiration in many ways! Peace to you all! -- Suzanne Benoit
Greetings Everyone,
In the spirit of Peace and Thanksgiving, I'd like to wish everyone a safe, peaceful and
joyous holiday.
Thank you everyone for sharing your time, spirit and efforts to nurture this CSA and its
intentions. I am very grateful for the wonderful experience of being a part of this mindful
community. Having been caught up with the many other tangents of a busy and active
life, the spirit of this CSA has provided me with a gentle but effective reminder of the
importance of supporting and nurturing the key components of our very existence, Mother Nature and Peace. Both nurture us with our sustanance, society and governance. I have now been re-instilled with hope that we can still strive and make small motions towards a more peaceful and clean world. Imagine living in a pristine, clean and healthy environment, governed by peaceful and conscientious souls! I've been reminded that we can all start by recognizing the importance and value of this and embracing this peaceful and purposeful spirit by sharing it with others through our intentions and choices.
Happy Holidays and
Namaste,
Effie Shu
Letter to CSA Farmer from member:
Thanks for the update on the CSA happenings. I also wanted to send a small note to Sebastian. If you can please forward the following to him, it would be greatly appreciated.
Dear Sebastian,
Me and my family became members of the CSA last fall and we are absolutely thrilled every week. There are so many delicious vegetables when we pick up our share, many of which I never tried until I joined the CSA. We enjoy every single item!
I read your letter to the members and I wanted to let you know that it brought tears to my eyes. We truly feel indebted to you and we are so grateful that our food comes from your farm. The dedication that you have put in to help nourish our bodies and the Earth is rarely found and I want you to know that we really do appreciate it. Please know that we plan on supporting your efforts through thick and thin. Thank you for everything that you have done.
Blessings,
Fatimeh
ON VOLUNTEERING FOR WEEKLY SET UP:
“Volunteering ... was fun! I liked getting to know some of the CSA members. It also made me realize how much work goes into a CSA, not just the food production, but getting the food distributed. We are so spoiled when we can just pick something up at the store. My volunteer experience gave me even more respect for farmers and the wonderful food they produce for us and for the CSA for allowing us to be part of something so special. Yes, I had to take time off work to volunteer, but it was well worth it.”
“I have to say that doing set-up is both fun and rewarding. It takes me far away
from my regular work with a computer, papers, and books. I get to do
it with good people. And it fosters in me the sense of community that
the CSA is about. It helps me see the CSA as mine. I can refer to it
as "we", because I am helping us all to get our food that week. And I
don't mind getting sweaty and messy. Also, there is always work for
all types of people.
I always try to do my shifts during a lull in my work, which I know
about in advance. I look at it as a high point in my week, even if
getting up on that specific morning might not feel good at first.”
Mark Stoneman