Yet another start

Well, I haven't managed to keep up with my ambitions yet, but I keep picking myself up and starting over.

Last week I came to one new realization:  it's time to just say no to meat from Safeway and its ilk.  I've already signed up for and will take delivery of my first basket of goods from a CSA.  I chose Eatwell Farm, which has a weekly drop-off in Castro Valley.  According to the email I received today, my first load will consist of:

Asparagus
Strawberries (we may only have enough for a few berries per box, and if we get a lot of rain there may not be any!)
Carrots
Fresh Onions
Lettuce
Spinach
Green Garlic
Peas (We're not sure how much we'll have for this week, but you'll get at least a little bit!)
Fava Beans
Chard
Dandelion Greens OR Radicchio

A bit dull, perhaps, as dictated by the season, and I'm going to have to augment the fruit with frozen and farmers'  market, but a few of these items are a bit scary.  I've only made fava beans once, and I remember it was a pretty labor-intensive process.  Dandelion greens, hmm, vague memories of Pennsylvania Dutch bacon vinaigrette shimmer to the surface.

The meat question, though.  I did some research last week into various local CSA and other types of free-range, grass-fed, etc. meat providers. There doesn't seem to be a one-size-fits-me solution, so I may have to select a couple of providers, buy a small freezer, and go in with some friends. What's wrong with Safeway? Hormones, cruelty, eco-impact, but also the wasteful assumption that consumers only want the "good" cuts. I can remember picking a random white-paper-wrapped package out of the freezer at my parents' home when I was a kid, and it could be stew meat or steak, we used all cuts--not offal, perhaps, we are after all white bread americans, but certainly not only the grillable. I'm happy to have lamb shanks as well as leg, chops, etc. I could get around some of that by shopping in the Chinese and Mexican markets that surround my neighborhood, but I'm still left not knowing where and how the animals were fed, contained, and slaughtered. Trader Joe's, I thought, might provide a piecemeal compromise, but their lamb, at least when I went to look early this a.m., was all imported from New Zealand--hardly supportive of the world's environment or the local economy. So, in the long run, a small freezer is in my future, and some trips to outlying ranches and farms, and coordination with my friends. In the short run, I have discovered that a local market is a retailer for Llano Seco, an organic pork producer out of Chico, so I'll be checking out Porters Market in the Manor neighborhood of San Leandro tomorrow. I'll be posting photos of my haul tomorrow, and I welcome any ideas for recipes.