(no subject)
Do we have this in the US? If not, can we start it? It has tremendous (financial) potential in some of our more affluent, health-conscious neighborhoods. Even I can think of several of such neighborhoods right off the bat, right here in New Jersey, no less.
This is the four years of Wharton brainwashing in me speaking, but honestly, I wish the dimwits in the US agricultural department stopped touting the outdated and misguided nutritional "pyramid" and began ventures such as these...
Excerpt From the article "How to Buy Organic" from the Guardian.
"1. Box schemes
Possibly the best-known way to buy organic food is through a box scheme. Pay between £5 and £20 a week, and someone will come to your door clutching a cardboard box stuffed full of delicious, seasonal organic fruit and vegetables.
The scheme has many advantages: the food is incredibly fresh (the wet mud is always a giveaway); you are supporting a local farmer; you are enjoying seasonal food; and it is even more convenient than picking something up from the corner shop.
The old perception of box schemes was that you got what you were told - and that often meant a collection of produce as unimpressive as two carrots, a potato and a bunch of leeks. This notion has been dismissed as the market has developed, and box schemes now deliver a whole range of additional goods, including meat, wine and dairy produce. And if you are unable to be at home for the delivery, most schemes will happily drop off the box at a mutually convenient place such as a neighbour's home or a community centre. They may even leave it under a hedge in your garden if that is more convenient.
The range of produce is dictated by seasonal availability, which leads to wonderful variety throughout most months, but in spring many box schemes are suspended due to the so-called "hungry gap". This is caused by the lack of available produce during these key growing months, and leads many box schemes to compensate by using imported goods. Most schemes offer a range of boxes, each containing a set selection of farm produce. However, most will cater for the odd request, such as a dislike of broccoli."
This is the four years of Wharton brainwashing in me speaking, but honestly, I wish the dimwits in the US agricultural department stopped touting the outdated and misguided nutritional "pyramid" and began ventures such as these...
Excerpt From the article "How to Buy Organic" from the Guardian.
"1. Box schemes
Possibly the best-known way to buy organic food is through a box scheme. Pay between £5 and £20 a week, and someone will come to your door clutching a cardboard box stuffed full of delicious, seasonal organic fruit and vegetables.
The scheme has many advantages: the food is incredibly fresh (the wet mud is always a giveaway); you are supporting a local farmer; you are enjoying seasonal food; and it is even more convenient than picking something up from the corner shop.
The old perception of box schemes was that you got what you were told - and that often meant a collection of produce as unimpressive as two carrots, a potato and a bunch of leeks. This notion has been dismissed as the market has developed, and box schemes now deliver a whole range of additional goods, including meat, wine and dairy produce. And if you are unable to be at home for the delivery, most schemes will happily drop off the box at a mutually convenient place such as a neighbour's home or a community centre. They may even leave it under a hedge in your garden if that is more convenient.
The range of produce is dictated by seasonal availability, which leads to wonderful variety throughout most months, but in spring many box schemes are suspended due to the so-called "hungry gap". This is caused by the lack of available produce during these key growing months, and leads many box schemes to compensate by using imported goods. Most schemes offer a range of boxes, each containing a set selection of farm produce. However, most will cater for the odd request, such as a dislike of broccoli."