Many consumers said that they enjoyed shopping at farmers markets and being members of CSAs because it allowed them to cook things they might not otherwise have bought and try new kinds of food.

While one consumer mentioned going to the farmers market with a shopping list (C5), a larger number said that they would go and simply buy what was there. C4 said “I just buy whatever looks good and then when its time to cook I bring out all my vegetables and fruit and think 'what can I make with this?'” C7 said that his cooking was very “European based” because he would go to the farmers market, see what looked good, and then decide what to cook from that.

Several consumers said that they would “make a first pass” through the farmers market to see if there was anything new they hadn't seen before. C11 said “usually I do one circuit and scope it out and sort of see what people are selling, see if theres anything different or new or something I haven't seen before.” C7 said that “I go to the farmers market hoping to see things I don’t recognize and hope to buy then and eat them. If I was a farmer I would want to promote those.” C1 mentioned being interested in a “weird kind of kale” she saw at a stand that she had never tried before. C5 mentioned buying brussel sprouts on a stalk (something he had never seen) as an “impulse item.”

When it came to CSA boxes, the majority of our participants liked the surprise of not knowing what they would receive, and being “forced” to try new things and cook whatever came in their box. Though seasonally aware consumers might be able to guess what was coming in their box and plan around it, most of our participants liked the surprise and didn't even mention this possibility. C6 said that she liked it when “we got things [in the CSA box] that were totally surprising that I would never have ordered or buy.” C4 said that for her the box was “like Christmas” because it was a surprise every time. C1 said that getting unexpected produce in a CSA box "stretches me creatively." C9 said that the CSA box “makes you think about things to cook... like you have three weeks of pumpkin and you have to decide what to cook.”

Sometimes this surprise aspect of CSAs or farmers markets would lead people to wonder what to do with certain vegetables. When our participants were at farmers markets, they would often simply ask the farmer. Other participants said that this inability to determine what to do with certain vegetables would simply lead them not to buy them. C2 said that she enjoys seeing “all the interesting peppers” at the farmers market, but since she doesn't know what to cook them in, she doesn't buy them.