Do you get an organic box?
By liquorice
@liquorice (3887)
January 21, 2010 4:18pm CST
There's a company here which delivers organic fruit and vegetables to your home. You can choose the size of the box, and they fill it with locally-grown products which are in season, meaning that the selection you get varies from week to week. It's not too expensive, and I'm very tempted to sign up for it.
Being organic it's much more healthy (no pesticides), - as is actually having a basket's worth of fruit and veg in your home the first place! I think it would be a good investment for my family, it would give us a more varied diet and encourage us to try new recipes. And the fact that it's locally produced is good for the environment.
The down-sides are that it is a bit more expensive than we would pay for our normal non-organic supermarket vegetables, and that we might not be big fans of all the fruit and veg that are delivered in a particular week. But I think the pros outweigh the cons.
What do you think? Have you tried an organic box service? What do you think of it? Would you do this if it was offered in your area? Do you already buy organic food from the supermarket?
2 responses
@much2say (55562)
• Los Angeles, California
22 Jan 10
That sounds really cool - if you can afford it! Believe me, I would love that kind of service, but unfortunately I think that would be a luxury item for us. I do prefer to handpick my own produce at the market - I'm picky about how green or ripe something is or how big it is, etc. I only get what I need in the quantities I need - as we are on a budget. I mostly do not like organic produce from the regular markets because it doesn't look fresh (why does it look so old and dry?) - but I may get organic produce at a health food market if the price is right. I will say I try to get organic root vegetables whenever possible - like carrots or sweet potatoes - because I think they taste better. An organic box service sounds like it would make a neat gift for someone!
1 person likes this
@liquorice (3887)
•
22 Jan 10
Yes, I do like the sound of it. Have to work out whether it's worth it financially and do a proper comparison with what we buy now. Yes, I know what you mean about handpicking fruit and vegetables, but they promise to provide high quality products and only stuff that's really fresh, and I guess if they don't you can always complain or stop getting it. (Actually I need to check whether you have to commit to a certain period of time or if you can just try it as a one-off thing... Thanks for making me think of this!
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Yes, I agree with you about the products you get at a supermarket/market. And they don't taste as good (or have as much flavour) as freshly grown food. I guess it's because a lot of supermarket produce gets flown half-way across the world and frozen to guarantee an all-year-long supply.
Yes, it would be a good idea for a gift. Never thought of that!
Thanks a lot for your answer.
)
Yes, I agree with you about the products you get at a supermarket/market. And they don't taste as good (or have as much flavour) as freshly grown food. I guess it's because a lot of supermarket produce gets flown half-way across the world and frozen to guarantee an all-year-long supply.
Yes, it would be a good idea for a gift. Never thought of that!
Thanks a lot for your answer.@much2say (55562)
• Los Angeles, California
23 Jan 10
I have heard of services that give a fruit of the month for a whole year as a gift for someone. I wonder if there is such a thing for like an organic vegetable of the month (that way your not stuck with tons of veggies all at once?). Like I said, I would love any of these services, if I could afford it!
1 person likes this
@liquorice (3887)
•
1 Feb 10
That sounds like a good idea, I haven't heard about any other schemes besides this one. Actually we ordered the box to start on Friday! I'm excited about it and am determined that it's going to make me cook more healthy food for us all. I am a bit worried about waste if we don't get to use it all, but hopefully we'll find some recipes that incorporate all of them. And we'll hopefully offset the cost by cutting back on some of the other things we normally buy. There's also a special deal at the moment which lets you buy for four weeks then get the fifth week free, so we're going to take advantage of that!
I think we'll just see how it goes for the five weeks, and if it doesn't work out we can always cancel. (Of course, the deal does mean that we're commited to it for five weeks, but I think it'll be good to give it a fair go). Thanks for your replies!
