CSA Today

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Today was our monthly CSA pick-up. Here's what we got in each bag:

• 2 dozen eggs
• 2 chickens (1 whole, 1 cut up into parts)
• 1 package ground beef patties (x4)
• 2 sirloin steaks
• 2 thick bone-in pork chops
• 1 package stew meat
• 1 package bacon
• 2 lbs ground beef

I don't generally like getting ground beef and beef patties. But whatcha gonna' do?

Yikes, I just did the math and this much meat makes about 18 dinners in our house. If you subtract a fair price for the bacon and eggs, we are averaging $8 per meal just on meat. That is a bit much considering I used to buy chicken, pork, or ground beef on sale for about $2/lb and splurged on more expensive cuts of beef only once a month or so.

Nevertheless I am not going back. I just know this is worth it. Not to mention the only way to get prices down is to increase availability, which requires demand. Plus we are saving money in other areas (buying less pop, seasoning mixes, and boxed foods) so our actual grocery spending probably hasn't changed much from last year. But just for fun, let's check and be sure....

Okay, I pulled up Quicken and ran a couple reports. The year before we joined the CSA, we averaged $831/mos on groceries. In the ten months since we joined the CSA, we averaged $834 on groceries. Weird. So I guess this adventure isn't hurting our bottom line so much after all. I think it's because the CSA created a snowball effect. If you are going to go through the effort of brining and roasting a whole chicken, it doesn't feel quite right to cook up a box of Betty Crocker Au Gratin potatoes to go with it. Or is that just me?