‘225’: Plow shares

Each year in May and June, Patty McCann’s cooking routine becomes entwined with what’s growing at Port Hudson Organics, a small, well-tended farm near Zachary. Every Saturday for nine weeks, the married, working mother of two heads to the farm, where she picks up a box of produce from farmers Will and Thais Perkins. Sometimes she brings her children, Jake, 5, and Kate, 3, and along with other volunteers, they pick and sort fresh produce. McCann is a member of the farm’s Community Supported Agriculture program, which gives her a seasonal “share” of fresh foods in exchange for an upfront fee. Back home, she unpacks a box brimming with vegetables, herbs and flowers, all picked that morning. During the ensuing week she creates dishes that let the fresh ingredients speak for themselves. McCann says she has always been drawn to healthy food. She made organic baby food for her children when they were young. When the opportunity emerged to join a local CSA and have a seasonal supply of organic produce, she never hesitated. “I knew about CSAs from living in New York and Austin, and when I moved back here, I kept looking for one,” she says. “It’s been a wonderful experience.” Part of the sustainable agriculture movement, CSAs have quietly spread across the United States. Read the full feature by Maggie Heyn Richardson in this month’s issue of 225 here.