Meet CSA members Brandon and Amelia
Members since 2022
I want to introduce you to Brandon and Amelia!
Both are water industry professionals. Brandon’s work focuses on data and technology or digital transformation work. While Amelia’s focuses on engineering and restoration. Her work focuses on restoring green spaces back to their natural and original state to help improve water quality and manage runoff in urban areas.
They are recent homeowners, love gardening, and foraging for mushrooms. Thier care and concern for the environment and support of local food led them to the CSA. The CSA model embodies their values and fits their lifestyle!
CSA Share Pick-Up Location
Portland
Type Of Membership
10# share with lamb add-on
Helping To Building A Resilient Local Food System
Brandon is the president of the board for a food co-op in Hillsboro where he is actively working to grow it. How co-ops are run and the maturity of them vary widely from town to town. It takes a lot of time and grassroots work to set them up and help them grow. He is regularly working on how to better manage relationships with community members and producers.
One of the driving forces for Brandon is the desire to create a better working food system that really benefits producers and helps them have larger access to customers. In turn benefiting the farmer and exposing more people to local agriculture.
“I would love to see more focus around a cooperative model for producers where they could bring their products to market in a standard way for the community to access those products.”
Why A Meat CSA?
As a longtime advocate for local food production and through the work on the food co-op, Brandon and Amelia, were keenly aware of what kind of local food was available to them. They participate in a vegetable CSA and wanted a direct meat source as well.
Their overall preference was to have high quality meat from a source they could trust. Understanding the practices involved in raising the animals and keeping production local was really important to them.
As they searched around, they found Double F Ranch. The subscription model was really appealing. The variety of options that Katia and Nathan are able to provide was a bonus too.
“The variety keeps it new and fresh. It allows me to explore with different recipes and different cuts. ”
“The CSA is a great value for my money when looking at semi bulk buying versus a whole cow. ”
In The Beginning
As Amelia and Brandon began their membership in the CSA they have had a few challenges here and there that they have successfully navigated. One of those challenges was making sure before each pick-up they stayed consistent with using up the meat before the next month came along. Once they figured out storage and how to rotate the meat, they found it to be seamless.
Larger cuts were more than enough for two people, so they started thinking about inviting friends over to share it with.
There have been a few times where they have had to ask a friend to pick up their share. They appreciate the opportunity to expose friends and neighbors to the CSA model by asking them to pick up the CSA share.
How The CSA Is Adding Value To Meal Time
On top of all the variety and opportunity the Double F Ranch meat CSA provides, Brandon and Amelia find that it simplifies the decision-making process around meal planning.
“I have a set number of cuts that I’m working with, which adds constraint, and is a good thing.
Experimenting with different cuts is a fun little mental exercise as well. It is a nice way to kind of push your own boundaries. ”
Favorite Cuts, Meals and Swap & Trade Delight
Off the top of their heads, both love the pork cuts. Particularly the pork stew meat. Last summer Amelia and Brandon grew tomatillos in their garden and had an abundance of them to make tomatillo salsa.
Brandon put the pork stew meat in the crock pot over night with some of the salsa and it has become one of their favorite meals.
One important offering at CSA pick-up is the swap cooler. Brandon makes it a habit to check it out at each pick up.
The swap cooler is great. You get some extra wild card excitement - what's going to be in the swap cooler? I feel like we usually swap ground beef for something a little bit wackier. I'm like the proverbial kid in the candy store with the swap cooler. I open it up and dig all the way through it.
Brandon loves it when he finds a whole chicken in the swap cooler!
They spatchcock and oven roast the whole chickens. Sometimes Brandon will break down the chicken into separate parts and use the leftovers for making stock for soup.
Another cut that is a highlight for their household is the chicken wings!
Brandon and Amelia love being adventurous with their meals. Brandon says the cut he enjoys the most that is on the less common side, is beef flap. (This unfortunately named steak cut is quite the CSA darling for those in the know!)
Amelia shared that once when they cooked the beef flap, they invited friends over to enjoy it.
It was fun to have people over, especially when you have a big chunk of meat that's more than a portion for just two people. Then you can teach other people about what beef flap is.
Tips & Tricks For New Members
Both Brandon and Amelia really recommend just jumping into the CSA. Key to being successful is making sure you have enough freezer space, developing a rotation strategy for your meat, and being adventurous!
“Challenge yourself a little bit. Don’t be afraid of cuts that you haven’t heard of before.
I think the main thing is understanding what cut performs well with what type of cooking method.
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Both love all the helpful advice and recipe guidance available to members. The example recipes and suggestions go a long way in helping them embrace the variety and the model of the CSA. They suggest new members take advantage of these resources and have fun!
Final Thoughts
“I appreciate the free temporary tattoos that are often at the checkout table. It’s just nice to have that little fun community, and personal interaction that you don’t often get. ”
“One of my best memories from a pickup party was maybe late summer. Someone in the group brought this really old wine, from the 70s, that they shared from their cellar.
It was a really unique experience, and they were just like, today’s the day.
It was a very heavy, very old, and it had a bunch of sediment in the bottom. But it was so fun. You get to meet fellow food enthusiasts. It doesn’t even have to be meat related.
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Thank you to Brandon and Amelia, for taking time to share your experience! -Rachel