Organic box schemes-rip off or best thing ever?

[cesare]

No air freighting, and they tell you what percentage of the stuff is grown in Britain. In the summer, it's most of it, but they do have to supplement local stuff a bit in the winter, as do Abel & Cole. Not sure about fuel, tbh.

Thanks!

 

[northernhord]

I agree they are a bit of a middle class luxury, but there are a hell of a lot of us in this country these days. Also I think growing your own stuff on an allotment and farming in large quantities are a completely different proposition. Sometimes you can lose most of your crop - badgers particularly like sweetcorn, apparently.

I still think it could be much cheaper, I know the costs involved regardless of damage be badgers as you quite rightly mentioned

 

[oryx]

For 15 quid you can get 4 full placcy bags of organic veg from our local greengrocers (New Park Rd, Brixton Hill) - he gets his produce straight from Covent Garden market, most of it comes from Kent. So it is pretty local and you get loads of it. Probably about 4 times the amount for the same price!

That's what I do, use the local greengrocers - there's a good one near me, been there since the year dot! None of it's organic AFAIK but I don't give a stuff. He does the best plum tomatoes which actually taste of something.

Proper greengrocers are increasingly rare & wherever I move to next I may try an organic box if there isn't one. I don't want to go back to buying fruit & veg at the supermarket.

 

[tangerinedream]

A few thoughts about vegetables.

There are 3 greengrocers on one street in Fleetwood.

I was the only customer in any of them today when I went to buy some veg

Got:

5 large toms
a Nutterbut Squash
2 massive carrots
a huge, bigger than giant garlic
2 large onions
2 peppers (red + yellow)

for £3.20

For basic veg, they undercut Asda but for more exotic stuff like squash and things like that I think they are more expensive. I have noticed ASDA is really busy in the evenings, 6-7ish. I don't know why the small shops don't get together and open late one day and have an evening shopping night to try and compete. I'd love to never shop at ASDA but often I have no choice as I don't see an open shop for 2 weeks. In london I noticed the local shops opened late to catch people after work.

 

[cesare]

I try and buy most of my non-veggie-box food from local shops, we've got a fairly thriving traditional High Street and I like that. But - I went to buy a tinned of chopped toms from the corner shop last night and it was 69p

 

[Roadkill]

Proper greengrocers are increasingly rare & wherever I move to next I may try an organic box if there isn't one. I don't want to go back to buying fruit & veg at the supermarket.

Ain't that the truth. I don't know of any proper greengrocers in my bit of London, although the street markets make up for it.

Back up here in Hull, Newland Ave still has three excellent greengrocers, two butchers, a fishmonger and a host of general cheap shops. Generic things like tinned tomatoes are cheaper at the supermarket (they're KVIs, known value items, that the supermarkets do as loss-leaders to create the impression of being cheap across the board), but you can get rice, pulses, spices and so on for much the same price, and in some cases much cheaper, so it all balances out.

 

[Maggot]

Ain't that the truth. I don't know of any proper greengrocers in my bit of London, although the street markets make up for it.

There's a good greengrocers on Old Dover St, which ain't that far from you.

it was delivered in an eco friendly van, and all of the minimal packaging goes back the following week for recycling.

How is it eco-friendly?

 

[cesare]

How is it eco-friendly?

They run their vans on low pollution gas and biodiesel (partly made from vegetable oil apparently). More info here on their website http://www.abel-cole.co.uk/default.aspx?tab=AboutUs&menu1=6&menu2=19

I also like that you can have 'hate' and 'favourite' lists. Means I never get beetroot, fennel or celery - they substitute my 'hates' with something else

 

[subversplat]

I wish I could afford to join in the big organic hippie love-in

I also like drugs too, though This should be multi choice!

 

[Roadkill]

There's a good greengrocers on Old Dover St, which ain't that far from you.

I'll go and have a look for that.