I’ve been slow to join a CSA, mostly because I’m loathe to give up the pleasure of roaming the aisles of my local farmer’s markets. But I might change my ways for a community supported kitchen, however. Recently I came across Three Stone Hearth, which is, as owner Larry Flynt (no, not that Larry Flynt) tells me, a worker-owned food delivery service out of the East Bay. The difference about Three Stone Hearth is that they deliver fully-prepared meals, ready to be heated and served. As well, you can order whatever you want, whenever you want: While CSAs generally deliver their goodies on a regular schedule, at Three Stone Hearth you can order once a week, once a month, or even just once a year. It’s up to you.


Free spirits at play—attendees at the Three Stone Hearth full moon dinner.

The prospect of buying organic, sustainable meals ahead of time—meals that might keep me from calling out for deep dish pizza or sticking a box of frozen never-you-mind into the microwave—is just too good to resist. And the food looks great: this week’s menu, for instance, is inspired by India and includes lamb curry, peach chutney and raita, all made with ingredients from local and sustainable producers.

Three Stone Hearth is a pretty crunchy operation, run by five “worker-owners” who met through their involvement in the Weston A. Price foundation, a non-profit dedicated to turning Western food culture away from processed foods and back to nutrient-dense, high animal fat diets of our ancestors. (Umm—high animal-fat food? Sold!) Along with volunteers and interns “who have come from across the country to learn about the Price food philosophy and who are paid in food,” the owners cook everything in their 2000-square-foot commercial kitchen in Berkeley. Products range from pre-cooked cereal to slow-cooked grass-fed beef, pastured-chicken broths and lacto-fermented drinks, including kombucha.

Three Stone Hearth uses only reusable containers and arranges cluster deliveries to lessen carbon footprint. You can sign up at their website, or if you’re not ready to sign up for deliveries, sample the goods at their monthly full moon dinners. But book early through their site, because there are only 100 spots and they fill up fast.