Meet CSA Members Jill and Bob

Jill and Bob relocated to Oregon from Wyoming in 2014. As members of the Central Oregon CSA drop, they call Prineville home. Bob is a retired farmer and rancher and Jill is a recently retired botanist - “I’m just kind of working myself into retirement so taking the summer off has been amazing for me. I think I just got into that Covid [mentality] of examining your life and your values and better aligning with that”. 

Bob is into automotive collecting and tinkering and together they are working to restore a 4.5 acre industrial property within Prineville city limits. Jill enjoys using her botany background to lean into the challenge of how to nurture this formerly industrial parcel to restore the land to a healthy, functional high desert ecosystem - right in town!  

Join Date

2018

CSA Pickup Location

Bend

Share Type

10# share with lamb. “Of course we have a lamb share. I would like it to be all lamb if it was up to me!”

CSA Interest Begins

Even though she’s married to a rancher and had the opportunity for close personal connection with meat, Jill was a vegetarian for 25 years. “Things just changed for me, my body was changing and I decided to add some meat back into my diet”. Yet after so many years of commitment to a specific diet and lifestyle, the question really turned towards, “if I’m adding this back into my diet, how am I going to get something that would be compatible with my values and really with Bob’s values?”

Jill discovered the CSA through an online search and found the idea of being able to purchase meat through a CSA model really exciting. She was inspired by the efforts of the family to tune into the growing local foods movement to connect people to a pure food source, the land that supported that and philosophy of management practices that make the whole system more sustainable over time.

With Bob’s prior history in farming and ranching, they were familiar with the struggles of small farms trying to compete in a corporate farming world and admired the CSA model and the passion of Nathan and Katia to making it work - “I mean, when you are deciding to do things a different way, it is just really swimming upstream and it’s more difficult. So you have to have a reason to do it or you’re not going to be able to sustain the effort it requires to be successful”. 

CSA Challenges

Despite being a vegetarian for so many years, Jill didn’t find joining the CSA challenging at all in terms of actually cooking the meat, “I was, oddly enough, cooking meat fairly regularly for my family. I didn’t sample it or eat it, but they said it tasted pretty good. On all levels I was ready to make that transition [to eating meat again], and [already knowing how to cook it] made it much easier”. 

The most challenging aspect of the CSA is just getting to Bend to pick up the share. Central Oregon covers a huge area and like most CSA members that live outside Bend, Jill combines the trip with other errands. “In some senses it would be easier to just go to the grocery store where you’re getting other stuff, but it feels worth it”. She loves her monthly check-in with her farmers; it has a ritual quality to it. “It’s part of your commitment to them and to the CSA model. It feels worth it to put in that effort to make the drive and to touch base”.

Plus, as anyone familiar with agriculture knows, there’s always weather to discuss. “I think it’s cliche to talk about the weather, but we talk about the weather all the time! It’s one of those things that [helps us] process our vulnerability as humans together”. 

Food Philosophy

Jill sums up her local food philosophy succinctly, “It’s worth it”. It’s worth supporting the people willing to grow food for you. It’s worth taking the time and effort to prepare that food in a way to nourish your body. It’s worth it to support sustainable food production systems.

Jill finds the CSA model grounding and believes the 10# share size makes her more thoughtful about her meat consumption. “I would like to eat 40 pounds of lamb chops, but there are other parts to that [animal] and that is the whole idea of CSA”. She finds this really helps her to value what is on her plate - “I think sometimes we take things for granted because we do live in a world where you can go to the grocery store and buy whatever you want. Choosing to balance that out with other ways of approaching food and wellness is really helpful for me”.

Bob and Jill really enjoy the CSA but for them it is more than just the meat. “That could be their new [CSA] motto,” laughs Jill, “It goes beyond meat. It isn’t just a product that is out there, it’s the whole package. It’s [Nathan and Katia] and the land that they’re on and their family and their business and us”. It’s all connected.

Favorite Meals

Jill finds she prefers simple preparations of the meats including grilled lamb or pork chops with seasonal vegetables to make an amazing meal. Though she rarely uses eggs for breakfast, they are a huge and nourishing component of lunches and dinners.

One of her favorite perks of the CSA is having access to beef and chicken bones for stock. “I’m a big stock maker! I transitioned my diet to fewer grains and I was a big baker. It was painful to give up the pleasure of baking. [Now] I make stock if I need a project to make the house smell good, or cozy, and it has the feeling of making something incredibly, deeply nourishing for your family”. With two big pots of stock simmering on the stove, Jill finds the quart jars of stock stashed away in the freezer to be an indispensable part of her pantry.

Final Thoughts

If we are to discuss local food in a holistic manner, Jill points out that the conversation isn’t complete without mention of the butchers. “I think we are really lucky to have Prineville Butcher Boys. They do a great job. It’s amazing to have a local outfit to do that work. It’s difficult for sure - not many people want to do it. I would love to shout out to them too because we appreciate that. [Butchery] is very underappreciated but it’s also a critical part of this food system. If you’re going to have humanely raised animals, what does it amount to if the way they’re slaughtered and processed isn’t respectful?”

Thank you so much Jill for talking with Rachel about your experience and for sharing your CSA story with us!