Are vegetable box vegetables cheaper than those from a supermarket?

[BananaSkin]

Getting increasingly frustrated that the vast proportion of our weekly spend seems to be on fruit and veg. There must be a cheaper way!

[AnybodyHomeMcFly]

Are there any good market stalls near you? They are usually cheaper and also you get exactly what you want - none of this buying a whole punnet of plums and then half of them going squidgy.

As to your question, it's a v long time since I tried a box scheme but I did get frustrated by not having exact control over what I would receive. Usually got loads of bloody chard!!

[islandofsodor]

No, they are more expensive. However we save a fortune by having the veg boxes delivered along with milk and eggs thus not going to the supermarket and buying a load of other stuff that gets wasted or seemed like a good idea as it was on offer/looked appealing at the time etc. Or the kids pester for a magazine/sweets/Hannah Montana/Thomas the Tank top etc.

We spend about £20 per week on a veg box with milk and eggs, plus £10 in the butchers then buy odds and ends like bread from the local corner shop as needed.

At the superarket we were spending a minimum of £60 per week plus other stuff.

[ravenAK]

Box schemes:

1. something weird & sprouty
   
2. something weird & tuber-y
   
3. something obviously not intended to be in box, inadvertently clipped by tractor on way to packing shed. Either that or it's sprouting geoffing broccoli again.
   
4. something that might've been quite nice, but has gone mouldy in the time it took to carry the box into the house.
   
   IME they're great if you love random vegetable curry or have an unfussy weaning baby. Otherwise it's quite an expensive way of buying compost.

[BananaSkin]

Oh, I see!! Thanks all. We don't go to the supermarket for the very reason you mention IslandofSodor - they come to us!

[TheDevilWearsPrimark]

No I asked about this recently on here and got a resounding no.

Do you not have a local market or farmers market?

[Indith]

I find veg is comperable but fruit is really expensive so I buy all my fruit from the greengrocer.

My veg box is £10 a week and fantastic. Obviously buying value veg would be cheaper but then I would have to buy a big plastic bag of peppers, a big plastic bag of onions etc and most of it would go off, or I'd get very sick of peppers. I worked it out and for me it is cheaper, especially as it gives me something concrete to menu plan around so I really don't end up wasting anything.

[BananaSkin]

Farmer's market clashes with swimming lessons & buying in town would mean taking car out just for this purpose and facing bad parking problems, or lugging fruit and veg for five up a couple of miles of steep hill!

[RupertTheBear]

I agree with Indith - I find veg the same as or cheaper than the supermarket. I actually think it is cheaper if you compare it with supermarket organic veg, and works out about the same if you compare it with supermarket non organic veg. I found fruit more expensive so stopped getting that. Some box schemes are better than others - I use Riverswale and they are fantastic.

[islandofsodor]

I didn;t get on with Abel & Cole. The stuff was half mouldy when it arrived.

However I do wholly reccomend Riverford. We eat so much better now.