Interview with Lise Metzger - Falls Church Pick Up Host

In addition to home delivery, Moon Valley Farm offers multiple pick up options across Maryland, DC, and Northern Virginia. Community members and local businesses graciously offer up their porches or storefronts as spots for folks in the area to pick up their boxes all at one place! We are so grateful to all of our hosts that dedicate their time to make access to local organic food easier for their community members!

We sat down with the host of our Falls Church, VA Porch Pick Up to hear more about the CSA community at her pick up and why she enjoys hosting.

Lise Metzger - Falls Church Pick Up Host

How did you get started with hosting the Falls Church Moon Valley Farm CSA pick-up and how long have you been hosting?

I started hosting with Moon Valley in the summer of 2022. I knew Emma from having photographed and written about her years before in the early days of the farm (check out Lise’s feature on Emma here!). It has been the best decision I’ve ever made, and you all are fantastic! The flexibility, the individualized boxes, and the ability to swap out items and put shares on hold are so great. 

What are the most rewarding aspects about hosting a CSA pick-up for you?

There are a lot! One of the biggest is to help connect people to healthy food and the source of their food. It’s very important to me to help people figure out that their health is connected to what they eat. We should be eating healthy food and protecting the farmland that we still have because we are losing farmland every day!

It feels good to make it easier to help people connect to their food that way. They just come here, pick up their box, get great food, and then go home. This is the model of how I think we should eat and get our food. I also really like meeting new people who have a similar interest in eating well.

How does hosting the CSA pick-up help you connect with your local community?

I’ll go talk to people picking up or see them when I’m outside gardening. I love to talk to people when they come onto the deck and we swap recipes. I live in a really tight neighborhood and am connected with neighbors, but I also get to meet new people in the area who come to pick up. We have an email thread and share recipes together.

Can you share any memorable experiences or stories about interactions with the CSA members?

A lot of friendships have come out of the hosting I’ve done over the years. The day to day of hosting and seeing people arrive so happy and say things like “The sweet potatoes last week were the best I’ve ever had!” I also enjoy helping people figure out what to do with more unique veggies.

How has being a host impacted your relationship with the farm or farmers you work with?

I knew Emma already, but the newsletters do help with understanding the backstory of the farm. It’s interesting to understand the relationship between rain and what we are getting in our box for example. I enjoy getting to see behind the scenes and connecting with the real people behind the food.

What kind of positive feedback have you received from the members at your pick up?

Gratitude! Every time I see someone picking up their box, I always ask how it's going and get big smiles. People say they love it and are so grateful. I want people to keep eating this way, so I want to do whatever I can to make it easy for them.

In your opinion, what makes a strong CSA community, and how do you contribute to that through your hosting?

Enthusiastic eaters! And regular communication. I let them know the delivery ETA and send an email when the boxes arrive. And they let me know if they might be running late to pick up. In the heat of the summer I’ll bring shares into my air-conditioned house if I know the owner won’t be picking up till the end of the day. I also host occasional get-together potlucks. We just had a small one last night! Wonderful conversation and great food made with Moon Valley veggies.

I think what makes a strong CSA community is the active participation of people in it. It should feel like it’s a community and be treated like it is a community.

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