Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We keep a primal (adapted version of paleo) diet in our home and are interested in a farm share, which should be easy enough - meat & veggies are the foundation of our diet, BUT plenty of these shares seem to offer up a lot of white potatoes & corn, which we wouldn't use. Any suggestions?

There were no "farms" during the paleo period. And there is nothing "primal" about a farm. In fact, it's the complete opposite. It's domesticated, fattened livestock.

If you want to be "primal," hunt deer and rabbit and fish in lakes and streams. That's the closest you'd get to any actual paleo. Pick nuts and berries. They wouldn't have grown vegetables.

They also only lived to about 35, so it didn't matter so much that they were taking in a disproportionately large amount of protein that it would, over time, damage their kidneys.

THANK YOU!!!! It's so silly.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We keep a primal (adapted version of paleo) diet in our home and are interested in a farm share, which should be easy enough - meat & veggies are the foundation of our diet, BUT plenty of these shares seem to offer up a lot of white potatoes & corn, which we wouldn't use. Any suggestions?

There were no "farms" during the paleo period. And there is nothing "primal" about a farm. In fact, it's the complete opposite. It's domesticated, fattened livestock.

If you want to be "primal," hunt deer and rabbit and fish in lakes and streams. That's the closest you'd get to any actual paleo. Pick nuts and berries. They wouldn't have grown vegetables.

They also only lived to about 35, so it didn't matter so much that they were taking in a disproportionately large amount of protein that it would, over time, damage their kidneys.

I love this response, and it gets at exactly why I want to put a cork in the mouth of any Bethesda/Arlington/NoMA D-bag who utters the word "paleo."

Because, as we all know, 99.573% of these Audi-Subaru-Car2Go driving fools would never, ever go hunting or fishing and kill. They could not shoot a pheasant or kill a large bass that's staring back at you with its one good eye.

Actually, fiber (whole wheats, grains) is usually recommended to HELP with lowering blood sugar.

NP here. On grains and a healthy vegetarian diet, I was pre-diabetic (and not overweight, 5'6" and 135 lbs). On Paleo, my blood sugar consistently is below 100. I had a full cardiac analysis done after following Paleo for about a year, and everything was normal (great cholesterol, low blood pressure, normal EKG and sono, etc.). If the Paleo/Primal diet is not right for you, fine, don't do it. But it works for some of us.

Mount Vernon Farms delivers grass-fed beef and lamb, pastured pork and chicken, and eggs about onc a month to several locations in the DC and Richmond areas,
http://www.mountvernongrassfed.com/

They're sorta low on the types of beef cuts available right now but that's unusual, and they should get more variety in soon.

Agree on the Polyface suggestion. Also, try Norman's for a CSA. There are a number of pick-up sites and times. Unlike most CSAs, they let you choose what you put in your box for the week. If you don't want corn or potatoes, you simply don't take them at the weekly pick-up. They also have eggs as an add-on item, however, if you do Polyface, those are, hands down, the best eggs I've ever eaten. They (Polyface) even have duck eggs from time to time.

Lancaster Farm Fresh Coop has minimal potatoes in the summer share (many in the winter) and fresh corn that I'm sure anyone else on the planet would be willing to swap you some bok choy for.

They also allow you to order meat.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What would your primal ancestors have done?

They would have taken up their spears and clubs and seized the land they were interested in, driving off, killing, or enslaving the native inhabitants.

I suggest you fill your subaru with weapons, drive out to Virginia, and claim a few acres of your new hunting and foraging grounds.

Yes, yes I realize the justifications proponents of primal/paleo diets offer are rather silly and I too laughed at the Darwinian theories. Going paleo was certainly not my idea but I went along to be supportive and as it turns out, skipping the empty calories offered by rice, wheat, and other starchy roots has improved my quality of life. So you can make fun of the spears and loin cloths, but I'm enjoying the extra energy boost I get from stable blood sugar levels and being the thinnest I've ever been, even after a baby.

Actually, fiber (whole wheats, grains) is usually recommended to HELP with lowering blood sugar.

I know people who smoke 2 packs a day and argue up and down how they benefit from the boost of energy the nicotine gives them and that hey are the thinnest they've ever been and have low blood sugar, because the smoking suppresses their appetite, but it doesn't mean it's healthy nor recommended for children.

Because we expect our kidneys to last a much longer period of time than paleo man, it's actually not a good idea to be that heavy on protein. Some would even argue that paleo man actually probably ate more like the wolf -- meaning that he didn't eat a bunch of meet EVERY DAY because it wasn't easy to hunt and kill successfully that much.

But whatever. To each his own. I'm still going to laugh at you.

I can't help with the veggies as I live in the country and just grow my own (or buy from my neighbors). However, I do buy all my meats from a local farm down the road - Fields of Athenry Farm. They do pastured beef, pork, chicken and lamb. They butcher weekly and also do home/office deliveries. Their meats are super high quality and relatively affordable.

Anonymous wrote:We keep a primal (adapted version of paleo) diet in our home and are interested in a farm share, which should be easy enough - meat & veggies are the foundation of our diet, BUT plenty of these shares seem to offer up a lot of white potatoes & corn, which we wouldn't use. Any suggestions?

There were no "farms" during the paleo period. And there is nothing "primal" about a farm. In fact, it's the complete opposite. It's domesticated, fattened livestock.

If you want to be "primal," hunt deer and rabbit and fish in lakes and streams. That's the closest you'd get to any actual paleo. Pick nuts and berries. They wouldn't have grown vegetables.

They also only lived to about 35, so it didn't matter so much that they were taking in a disproportionately large amount of protein that it would, over time, damage their kidneys.

While I roll my eyes at the paleo diet, I will recommend to you South Mountain Veggies (which I believe is now called Hometown Harvest).

http://www.smveggies.deliverybizpro.com/home.php

It's a delivery CSA, but they also have an option where you pay a couple dollars more to pick what goes in your box every week, so you can avoid the dreaded starch.

We've used them before and the quality is excellent.

Their sister company, South Mountain Creamery, is great for dairy/eggs/meat.

One Straw Farm http://www.onestrawfarm.com/

is a CSA, but not quite a farm share (you pay in advance for a set number of vegetables, but you don't actually get a share of all the vegetables they grow). At most, if not all, of their pickup locations you pick out your items from the available vegetables-so they tell you that you can pick out 8 items and you could choose 2 bunches of onions, 4 bunches of greens, and two pints of tomatoes, and not get any of the corn or potatoes they have available. Hopefully that makes sense?

Anyway, they might be another option to check out if you are closer to MD.

You can order organic, grass-fed meats and a variety of produce from Relay Foods. They also have a CSA-type box that doesn't require a membership commitment. I've only placed one order from them so far. They forgot an item and refunded the cost of it immediately.

http://www.relayfoods.com/Home/Welcome?returnUrl=%2F

We are a paleo family and get our meat and eggs from Polyface and our veggies during the summer from Potomac Vegetable Farms CSA. PVF does a market style CSA where you get to pick and choose what veggies you want every week from their harvest, so it's pretty easy for us to avoid potatoes and corn and double up on greens and other vegetables. Sadly, I think they're probably full, as the registration is in February and usually goes pretty quickly.

Also, the Organic Butcher of McLean does Paleo specials with different types of meat in a variety of cuts. Sometimes it's worth it to go there to get fresh (Polyface is frozen) protein.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We keep a primal (adapted version of paleo) diet in our home and are interested in a farm share, which should be easy enough - meat & veggies are the foundation of our diet, BUT plenty of these shares seem to offer up a lot of white potatoes & corn, which we wouldn't use. Any suggestions?

OP, Polyface Farms does meat shares with delivery to the DC Metro Area that would definitely meet your needs (portions of animals and/or individual cuts). We also did a farm visit which was cool for the kids. There are also some great options at local farmers' markets for meat (we've used Cibola Farms and Smith Meadow Farms.) I've only done a veggie/fruit CSA (Bull Run Farms) once, a few years back. I don't recall any potatoes or corn. Lots of greens. I rely more on the farmers' market now for the flexibility.

Awesome, thanks! That's two people saying the veggie share didn't include many potatoes or corn, so that's promising. I'm fine with having the occasional item I wouldn't eat; I can always give it to a neighbor. I just didn't want an entire box full of starchy items. A box full of greens, however, is exactly what I'm looking for. I think we'll go for a meat & veggie share.

Anonymous wrote:We keep a primal (adapted version of paleo) diet in our home and are interested in a farm share, which should be easy enough - meat & veggies are the foundation of our diet, BUT plenty of these shares seem to offer up a lot of white potatoes & corn, which we wouldn't use. Any suggestions?

OP, Polyface Farms does meat shares with delivery to the DC Metro Area that would definitely meet your needs (portions of animals and/or individual cuts). We also did a farm visit which was cool for the kids. There are also some great options at local farmers' markets for meat (we've used Cibola Farms and Smith Meadow Farms.) I've only done a veggie/fruit CSA (Bull Run Farms) once, a few years back. I don't recall any potatoes or corn. Lots of greens. I rely more on the farmers' market now for the flexibility.