Singles are in a bit of a tricky spot when it comes to these food schemes. Speaking for myself, I have limited amounts of time to spend cooking or food shopping. As such, delivery is a very appealing option.

At the same time, I am sure I could not eat as many vegetables as the local schemes seem to provide each week, nor easily stomach the cost.

A smaller delivery at a price of about $10 a week would be ideal.

Hey folks- here's an idea we've been toying with-

What do you think of a hybrid model between CSA and farmers market?
It works like this- You the eater pay in advance for Farmers Market Bucks- say $250. But you get a 10%-15% discount for paying in advance. So you only pay $225 for the $250 worth of food. So each week you come to market you buy the amount you want. The farmer marks off what you spend and when you exhaust your card, you prepay for another if you like.

We're thinking of this as a possible option for our CSA for may reasons. The eater gets to choose. 85% of our members already pick up at market anyway. We're not packing boxes in advance. And we don't have to deal with logistics of drop sites. And we the farmers get the money in advance to help pay for costs.

Of course this is (again) a farm by farm scenario that wouldn't work for all farms or all people. By diversity in buying your food is just as important as diversity in choice of food.

Gathering Together Farm (in Portland Oregon) does something similar to this. Actually it's where I got the idea.

Love to hear what you think.

BlueFoxFarm, I love the hybrid idea.  I also really like the idea of members packing their own boxes and having a choice between items.  I love our CSA, but for two people, it's a lot of food.  I've been making up meals with frozen veggies (stuffed squash, etc.) to save for winter, but it's a lot of work, and sometimes that huge bag of veggies can be a little overwhelming.  However, could we pick what was in our bag a little more, I think we'd have an easier time of making it through the bag every week.

First of all, I think BlueFoxFarm has a great idea there.

The CSA my wife and I belong to allows you to select ten items per week on-line from a list of about 25 different things. The box we get is huge. It IS a lot of work to prepare and sometimes we end up eating the same thing ten days in a row (our freezer is not that big). I can safely say I would not be able to manage it if I were single. A half-share might work. Getting a half-share AND sharing that with a neighbor might work too.

As much as I support local food, I do not encourage people to try CSAs willy-nilly, as they can get easily overwhelmed and back away from it. It's good that Tara is considering carefully before signing up. There's no shame whatsoever in buying at at the farmers' market, and if it's a "producers' market," as I've heard them called around here, the money goes directly to the farmers.

Another option I have seen out here in the Philly area is a buying club. Most of them seem to work this way: you sign up and once every two weeks or a month you can choose what you want, paying for each item individually. These usually go year-round and include things like milk and cheese, meat, and honey at certain times, in addition to the veggies. Often they deliver to a central point not far away for pick-up. If you don't want to order because you haven't made it through the last order, you don't have to.

Another great cookbook with a big section organized by vegetable is "How to Cook Everything" by Mark Bittman, although it would NOT work for a vegan. Our copy is coming apart from so much use.

The CSA that I am a part of also has their own booth at the Farmers Market. They get boxes to about 4 different distribution locations on wednesdays (and there are 3 of us splitting a small share!) and then on the weekends we can head to the Farmers Market to pick up anything we want more of, to pay for our CSA with food stamps if neccessary, or just to say hi to the farmers.
It's a great system, maybe you can find one like that?

Also, there are great CSA cookbooks out there, where they are arranged by season and vegetable. I have that AND the one we got from our farm.

Action Item #1:

Get rid of corn syrup from American food.

What do you have to lose?

I joined a CSA this year, and sure I got a lot of food, but I would never say "I don't have enough time to prepare it." I think people need to stop whining and just learn to eat good food again. I can steam up a nice big pot of veggies in minutes, and maybe that's more prep than throwing a box of corn-syrup-invested-microwaved-boxed-waste-product in the microwave, but I can wait the extra 5-10 minutes. When I do feel like cooking something more glamourous, I will take the time, but just because I'm cooking from the CSA doesn't mean that is the activity for the day.

I've looked into CSAs, and live in Corvallis, so I know all about the Farmer's Markets Bucks that the above place has.  The problem is I eat entirely off of my food stamps, and I have yet to see them accepted at Farmer's Market.

I think you would do a lot better if you did the Market Bucks payable via food stamps.  I understand if you can't have the machines at the Farmer's Markets, but you should be able to process it if it was purchased ahead of time.  Then I could actually eat fresh things and support my local economy, instead of eating the crap in the super market or debating if I can take money from somewhere else to buy at the Farmer's Market instead.  

(And for the inevitable person who will come and say that it's not that much more money and to stop whining, I live off $500 a month, and that includes everything.  The extra $1 a pound for apples really does add up).  

I love Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone.  It's organized in such a way that you can easily look up a fruit or vegetable, and learn five different ways of preparing it.  Some are basic (roast beets) and some are more complex (beet green and ricotta gratin), but none are truly complicated.  It's been a great resource for learning to handle obscure vegetables and taking advantage of the unique flavors and textures of heirloom varieties.

Also, many CSA's offer half-shares or biweekly pickups, designed for families of one or two.  Ask around; if you have more than three CSA's in your area, you'll probably find something.

We are a household of two and have challenges getting through our 1/2 share of our CSA box. I would find another single household and share!
Our farmers' market is very seasonal so the CSA is the best option for local produce in the winter

The Silver Spoon- it is a gigantic tome of a cookbook, apparently a sort of 'bible' in most Italian kitchens.  The vast majority of the recipes are very simple and very easy- many times leaving me wondering, "Thats all that goes into it?  How can it be good?"  But every recipe we've tried has been good.