FarmShare Folks: Meet The Ross Family
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| The Ross Family on the set of the film "Fun Size" being filmed in their neighborhood this summer. |
Not only have Cari and Bill become veggie-lovers since subscribing to FarmShare its first year in business, but so have their nine- and eleven-year-old children who both down a “green drink” every morning. This nutritious smoothie has become a breakfast staple in their household and can consist of multiple combinations of leafy greens, fruits, and juices. I spoke with Cari after a morning she blended together kale, oranges, strawberries, chia seeds, and passion fruit juice that marked a nutritious start to the day.
The greatest thing about FarmShare, according to Cari, is that it encourages subscribers to eat not only more vegetables but a greater variety of vegetables, and to prepare them in creative ways. A few nights a week, they sit down to a dinner that’s entirely vegetable-based or vegan. Cari even showed me the “vegenaise” she recently used on a sandwich to replace mayonnaise, which contains eggs. “I actually liked it!” she exclaimed. And, after I caught vegenaise’s aroma, I must admit that though the concept of an egg-free mayo seems dubious, it didn’t smell half bad.
The Ross family’s FarmShare favorites include garlic scapes (which she uses to make pesto) and bok choy, two items which Cari confessed she would never have bought before subscribing to FarmShare four years ago. “I would never have picked out fifty- or sixty-percent of the vegetables we get in the FarmShare bag. Before, I just wouldn’t know what to do with something like bok choy,” she said.
Kale chips were another discovery, and Cari was happy to say that her kids thought those were pretty tasty. The fact that they like kale chips, along with beets, garlic scapes, and the “green drink” are all signs that they are developing habits that will carry into their future and help them make the right nutrition choices. They are also learning to read food labels and understand that if you can’t pronounce an ingredient, it’s not good for you.
Besides garlic scape pesto, Cari also likes to use the vegetables to make FarmShare soup—a colorful mix of onions, tomatoes, celery, tomatoes, beans, fresh herbs, and anything else in season.
The biggest challenge about FarmShare is weaning her family off of the weekly tote bag during the winter months, Cari said. During the summer, she hardly ever has to buy vegetables from the grocery store because the FarmShare bag lasts all week. And because her family has grown accustomed to eating seasonal, she said that she can’t see herself buying a tomato in the winter. Fortunately, the fall pickups serve as inspiration for how to prepare root vegetables. “We still try to eat vegetables all winter long, but it’s not as fun without my FarmShare bag!”
Cari is such an avid FarmShare fan that she saves all of the newsletters in a folder so she can refer back to recipes as needed.
Sustainability has seeped into all aspects of their lives—Bill, who advocates for implementing green building projects at Forest City Enterprises, even traded in his Lexus for a hybrid Toyota Camry.
“Our friends wouldn’t describe us as “earthy” types—we don’t fit the stereotype,” Cari said. “They’re surprised when they see what’s in our fridge, but we’re really living a different lifestyle than we were a few years ago, and FarmShare is a part of that.”
By Elizabeth Bruml, FarmShare 2011 Intern