Its all about the money

Over the past few days I have been sending emails to a local farmer named Brad. My questions have been about the CSA program. How much does it cost a year? How often would I pick up? Do you grow organically? Most of the answers of course were found on the farmer's website. What I couldn't understand though was how much I would be coming home with a week. He said measuring in pounds would be difficult because it depends on the growing season and of course other farming issues, like rain and such. So I asked him to give me an estimated average based on last years CSA sucess. I explained that my concern was budgeting in my family, that as much as I want to do this if it did not make financial sense I probably couldn't do it, so I need an idea. He gave me an honest answer. If my plan was to beat grocery prices I would very likely not do it with CSA, but at the same time considering that the prices at the grocery store keep going up it would probably come out to about the same. The difference is that with the CSA I would know exactly where my food was coming from and what was put on it. I would also support a local farm. All in all I would be coming home with about two grocery bags full of veggies every week for about $30 a week. That doesn't sound too bad, but it is more than I spend now on organic veggies. Then again not all my veggies are organic. I have had to cut back due to the budget. I'm uncertain what to do. I really want to be a part of the CSA but if I can't afford it I can't afford it. I am waiting on response from two other local famers about their CSA. From their websites their prices seem to be more expensive, but it isn't as long term of a contract. Maybe for now I will have to settle for farmers markets, when ever it is they open up again. That's the thing about living where I live, the options are so limited.