Meet CSA Member Jessica
Member since 2021
Say hello to CSA member Jessica. Jessica is relatively new to the CSA. As parents to a two-year-old boy, she and her partner are very conscious about what they consume and only bring into their home those things that enhance their lives and well-being.
As a chiropractor, Jessica has her own healing story to share as a kind and thoughtful practitioner and community member who seeks to make the world around her better.
CSA Share Pickup Location
Bend
Type Of Membership
10# Share
Moving To The High Desert
Jessica found her way to Oregon through friends - David and Sarah to be exact, our beloved Bend CSA hosts and Pure Light chiropractors! Jessica attended the same chiropractic program in Georgia with them.
Back in 2017, she decided to take a solo road trip and headed out to explore the west coast. At the time she didn’t think much about visiting Bend other than seeing her friends. In a wild turn of events, she decided that she would put down roots and start a unique chiropractic practice of her own.
“I was just drawn to the beauty, the nature, and the people that I met and spent time with. It was a beautiful, encouraging thing.
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Joining The CSA
David and Sarah were the ones who first introduced Jessica and her partner to the CSA. Jessica enjoyed a lovely dinner at David and Sarah’s house that included a Mexican casserole dish. She was amazed at how good it tasted. They shared with her a lot of the behind-the-scenes details of what Katia and Nathan were doing to ensure the CSA provided high-quality meat.
At the time, Jessica followed an almost entirely plant-based diet. She really enjoyed it, and it made her feel great. Then she got pregnant, and she started craving meat ALL the time. As she started to introduce more meat into her diet, she was reminded of the time she had dinner with David and Sarah.
“It just always stuck in my brain how good this well-raised meat could taste.
The CSA made me want to bring the best quality and consciously raised meat that I could find into our family life.
I was already sold.”
Eating High-Quality Meats
Through Jessica’s own healing journey, she found that many of her personal beliefs and philosophies from her plant-based diet could be applied to eating high-quality, ethically raised meats. She found that when she ate nutrient-dense, unprocessed ingredients from close to the source, her body functioned at its peak.
She was already a regular at the farmers’ markets and supported local agriculture before joining the CSA.
At that point, it was just translating the same language over when looking for animal products. Getting something from the farmer’s market, where I knew the people raising the animals and where I knew they were doing everything they could to give them a healthy life.
Then when I consume that product, I would know that I'm taking in consciously-raised food rather than big, industrially raised meat. It just didn't make sense in my mind and in my understanding of health to eat sickly animals that had poor quality of life. It really didn't resonate with what I know to be true about the body, health and healing.
New Member Experience
The CSA has been a welcoming learning experience for Jessica. One of the biggest hurdles when she first joined was learning to become more confident in her ability to cook meat. Coming from a plant-based diet, there was a learning curve. Especially with cuts like whole chicken, steaks, or pork chops. Now a year in, she feels more comfortable and confident using all the different cuts.
My partner has been really good at teaching me the basics and I've always had a knack for creating really lovely food in the kitchen, so I feel like my skills have translated.
Despite the initial learning curve of cooking the meat, Jessica found it pretty seamless to incorporate the CSA into her life.
“It feels like another extension of going to a farmers’ market. I like the personal touch, knowing we are supporting another local family, and just keeping our resources so close to home feels really good helping this local community thrive. ”
Top 3 Favorite Things About The CSA
The amazing, delicious food and meals that we get to prepare.
It’s been a fun and adventurous experience, but really, it's just grounding to consistently know it's coming and know that we get to plan our meals around it. We pick one or two cuts and then we'll plan our meals for the week.
We are supporting the local community and that aligns with our values of keeping our resources in the local inner community. Also, to the best of our ability, to help the earth and other families.
Cooking With A Toddler
With any busy toddler, keeping them occupied and engaged in the kitchen is no small feat. Jessica has found ways to include her son in cooking and his personal love of all things meaty!
He loves helping to plan meals, cutting up simple veggies, and putting food from one bowl into the next.
True to his mother’s pregnancy, he still loves meat and as a family, they have appreciated being able to provide him with high-quality CSA meat through baby led weaning.
We let him suck on a piece of steak to get the juices out. He's always loved it. So, it feels so good to know that our whole family gets to enjoy the meal together.
Best Family-Friendly Meal
One of the family’s current go-to meals is meat and veggie bowls. They make different styles of bowls such as:
Taco
Mediterranean
Curry
Korean Beef
They love the ground meats for these recipes. While bowls are a great go-to right now, they still love experimenting with their CSA share each month as well.
Advice To New Members
Jessica embodies an adventurous and open-minded spirit when approaching her share. She invites others to do the same.
“I would say give [the CSA] a go and let yourself feel like a beginner.
You get really good supportive articles about the different shares including what to do with the different cuts of meat and things you may have never experienced before.
I would say just get after it and go experiment. ”
She uses a meal-planning app called, Meal Lime. She finds it useful for finding many kinds of recipes and it lets her add in her own preferences. She’s had great success finding recipes for the variety of meat cuts found in her CSA share. She recommends new members check it out!
Sharing The CSA Experience
Jessica and her family are eager to share their CSA meat with others. They create a community in their own lives through potlucks or having friends over to visit. They love to share their CSA experience with others.
“We are always eager to share where we get our meat from and how happy we are with the experience.
We are always sharing with friends and popping in details about the CSA in the conversations.”
Final Thoughts
“I feel a lot of gratitude for our share and what they’ve been able to put together for us.
I think this small community of people trying new ways of cooking, sharing recipes, and sharing experiences is just a really positive one.
Anytime you have the chance to feel more connected is a good thing in my eyes. ”
Thank you so much Jessica for sharing your experience with us! -Rachel