Veg box scheme
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A veg box scheme (also known as a vegetable box scheme) is a delivery of fresh, locally grown, seasonal organic produce, either directly to your home or to a local collection point.
The veg box scheme is usually run by the grower, so it supports the local food economy. The vegetables and fruit in the box (or bag) are normally delivered within 24 hours of harvesting, so the food is fresh and the nutritional content is still high.
Most schemes are run on a local or regional basis, delivering food direct from the producer to the consumer. Some veg box schemes offer a nationwide delivery, often with food bought in from co-operatives or wholesalers.
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[edit] How does a veg box scheme work?
A customer signs up to a weekly or fortnightly delivery of fresh fruit and vegetables. Usually the selection is chosen on a weekly basis by the box scheme provider, so you don't always know what you will receive.
You can usually opt out of any items you don't like, in advance.
Box deliveries can be small enough for 1 or 2 people, or large enough to feed a family.
Veg boxes typically cost between £7 and £15 per delivery.
An organic veg box scheme will be certified as organic by a government approved body, such as the Soil Association.
Your box scheme provider must be able to provide evidence of certification, if claiming that their produce is organic.
[edit] What do you get in a veg box?
You will receive the staple items such as potatoes, onions and carrots every week.
In addition, depending on the size of box you have chosen, you will receive a variety of vegetables.
In summer these might include courgettes, cucumbers, tomatoes, lettuce and peas. In autumn and winter you'll see more brassicas (e.g. cabbage, kohlrabi, brussel sprouts), root vegetables (e.g. parsnips, turnips, swede) and winter leaves, such as kale and New Zealand spinach.
Most schemes also offer fruit bags and some deliver eggs and meat, as well.
[edit] The advantages of a vegetable box delivery
[edit] Fresher food
Supporters of veg box schemes argue that the food delivered is fresher than that from a supermarket. The logic is that food travels from the grower to the consumer in around 24 hours. Whereas supermarket food often travels via a number of distribution hubs, before reaching the shop.
Supermarkets are counteracting this by offering more locally produced food.
[edit] Less food miles
If you choose a veg box scheme that delivers locally-grown food, then you are reducing the food miles traveled by your fruit and vegetables. You are also supporting the local economy and helping to keep farmers in business, by paying them a fair price for their produce.[1]
Debate still rages about food miles with the environmentalists claiming it is essential to reduce the distance our food travels, to reduce the impact of global warming. The counter argument is that we should support Third World economies by buying their produce and that food miles have only a minor impact on the environment, compared to the energy used for heating greenhouses and irrigation in food production.
[edit] Wider variety fruit and vegetables
Most veg box schemes involve delivery of produce that the grower has chosen. Whilst you can opt out of certain items you don't like, you often receive produce that you have never tried before. This expands the variety of your diet and is likely to make it more balanced.
By receiving a weekly delivery of fresh fruit and vegetables, you are likely to be buying more than you would in a supermarket. There is a drive to empty last week's box before the next one arrives. So using a veg box scheme means you are likely to increase the proportion of fruit and vegetables in your diet.
[edit] The disadvantages of a veg box scheme
[edit] You might waste more vegetables
Unless you like eating vegetables, there can be waste at the end of the week. Using a veg box scheme requires you to cook more food from scratch, which can be a lifestyle change. Entering into a veg box scheme without being prepared for this can mean throwing away much of the delivery.
Many people in the UK nowadays wouldn't recognise cavolo cabbage, kohlrabi or celeriac. These items tend to sit in the fridge, unused, until they go off.
If you receive something in your veg box that you don't recognise or know how to cook, you can either call your veg box scheme provider or look for it in a rogue's gallery.
[edit] It takes more effort
The vegetables in a veg box delivery are usually less processed than those from a supermarket. For example, potatoes and carrots will still have mud on them and will need scrubbing. Whilst this is annoying, the mud does perform a useful function in helping to keep the vegetables fresh for longer.
You are also likely to need to do weekly menu planning, to make sure you use everything in your box.
[edit] You might not know how to cook everything
50% of people who give up on their veg box scheme do so because they don't know how to cook the more unusual vegetables they receive and get annoyed at the waste [2].
It's important to have a selection of good cookery books, before choosing a veg box scheme.
Or you can use online resources such as Veg Box Recipes, which provides recipes for vegetable box scheme users.
[edit] Is a box scheme for me?
Using a veg box scheme isn't as easy as shopping at a supermarket. It takes planning of your family's meals and a commitment to cooking a wider range of vegetables from scratch.
If you're used to eating plenty of fruit and vegetables and don't mind the element of surprise involved in a veg box scheme, then you should be fine.
If you live in a household of fussy eaters who aren't keen on vegetables, you could waste a lot of your delivery.
[edit] How can I find my nearest veg box scheme?
- Try an internet search for organic box schemes in your area
- The Organic Directory, compiled and edited by Clive Litchfield, contains a comprehensive list of organic veg box scheme providers
- Your local telephone directory will include details of organic farms, who may offer veg box delivery
- Your local farmers' market is a good source of information. http://www.farmersmarkets.net will tell you where your nearest one is.
[edit] See also
- food miles
- food seasonality
- organic food
