New CSA Offers Hyperlocal Eats

With questions about the food supply chain that leaves grocery store inventories in flux—once you stand in long lines to even get in the door—many people are looking for healthy, locally sourced alternatives.

The Farm and Forest CSA (community-supported agriculture harvest subscription program) offers not only a container full of fresh, seasonal produce but also special items that herbalist, forager and plant-based chef Jess Starwood finds growing wild while exploring outside.

“I go foraging every week and add whatever I bring back, from mushrooms to herbs, fruits, berries and seeds—unusual things,” Starwood says. “These are add-on specials. Not everybody’s going to want to go home and process their own acorns, but they can buy acorn flour as an add-on to the week. I write up a recipe every week for inspiration, explaining what the items are and how to use them in recipes.”

The majority of food in the Farm and Forest CSA boxes comes from a farm in Thousand Oaks, where Starwood lives and earns partial rent working as the marketing specialist and natural foods forager for the landowners, who don’t wish to be identified.

“We’re not certified organic because the whole process is too much for such a small operation to undergo and keep things affordable. But we go above and beyond organic standards in what we produce,” Starwood says. “The farmers and owners of the property wanted to grow produce as free of chemicals as possible for their own consumption. They realized they were growing so much they wanted to share with the community.”

A Farm and Forest CSA costs $90 a month for members. Currently there are 10 subscribers, with room for up to 28. Each box has about eight to 10 items each week, based on what is currently in season. The boxes are picked up on Tuesdays.

“We have a variety of different greens: bok choy, kale, Swiss chard, romaine, butterhead lettuces; herbs [such as] mint and rosemary, cilantro, borage and sage,” Starwood says. “We’ll have all sorts of heirloom tomatoes, fava beans, cucumbers and a whole variety of citrus and other fruit: mandarins, key limes, Meyer lemons, kumquats, loquats. It changes withevery season.”

In addition to the standard CSA fare, customers can also add on mushrooms, nuts, elderberry syrup and other treats, depending on what Starwood finds while foraging.

Starwood says she tries her recipes out on daughters Isabella, 11, and Sage, 9, for approval.

“I’m completely self-taught as far as cooking. I really opened up my possibilities with foraging. There are no rules. You can do what you want using new and unusual ingredients in ways people haven’t thought about,” she says. “The kids totally test something out. I’ll ask, ‘What do you think?’ And they’ll let me know: ‘Yes, it’s a winner.’”

For more information, visit TheFarmandForestCSA.com.