Supermarket veg tastes of nothing – why aren’t more people ordering from local farms?

[Bottlesofrumonthewall]

I have recently been told I am pre-diabetic, so I am kind of forced to change how I eat and cook. Even a few weeks ago I genuinely thought ready meals were great, but now I have realised I need to actually cook properly at home rather than living off beige convenience food.

Chatting to my neighbours, who are also diabetic, made me think even more about my habits.

What has always put me off is that supermarket fruit and veg often tastes of nothing. I ordered a local fruit and veg box a few days ago and was honestly surprised that the veg actually tastes of something.

I did have to wash the veg, which is fine, and I am also going to get milk delivered to my doorstep. I have to admit, though, something felt a bit off about ordering it through a parcel service, you never quite know what might happen. My only worry is someone might nick the milk, but fingers crossed.

I know they are more expensive per item, before anyone jumps on me, but they are also more environmentally friendly. And weirdly, it has worked out cheaper overall for me because I am not filling the trolley with impulse buy rubbish, there is just less for sale.

Just in the last two days I have made a curry and some scones, which is more actual cooking than I have done in ages.

I really do wonder why more people do not do this, do they just not know it is an option? There are lots of farms that will deliver to your doorstep with ice packs so meat and dairy arrive properly refrigerated and everything stays fresh.

I am genuinely curious, is it cost, convenience, or something else that stops more people using veg boxes and milk delivery? Has anyone else found this works for them, or do supermarkets just make life easier?

I live in London... not many local farms. And I live in a block of flats, so it's not easy for people to just leave stuff on my doorstep, we have an intercom etc. Tried ordering veg and they rang my buzzer at 4am... no thanks.

We had to stop our milk delivery as the birds pecked through the foil tops. I dint know anywhere that would deliver a ‘veg box’

To people referring to location Abel and Cole and riverford cover most of the country. I had my deliveries in central London no issue

It's more expensive.

People don't have the money for it.

There are no local farm shops or greengrocers where I live.

Just googled Abel and Cole. It seems you don't get to choose which fruit and veg you get. As I have IBS and GERD,.this wouldn't work for me.

So much depends on the veg/fruit.

We have an allotment and you quickly learn what's easy to grow and what's worth putting the effort in for.

So we grow new potatoes/salad potatoes as fresh out the ground they're amazing just boiled and the supermarket ones don't come near. But we don't grow main crop potatoes as it's not worth it when I'm frying/mashing/roasting anyway.

I get a mixed veg box delivery from a guy who also runs a local market stall, started getting it during Covid and just carried on. £20 for a big box of mixed veg, whatever’s in season plus always get potatoes and onions.

A farmer visitor bought us a box of veg...omg, the flavours. The onions were so strong. He grows onions, carrots, parsnips, Brussels , turnips, cabbages, beetroot...

It is a lot of extra work and tbh I don't always have time to scrub veg. We use frozen veg for quick mid week dinners.

Had a look at Abel and Cole, saying they send 9 portions in a medium box. Looked at a past box - do they send one single pepper?

See how long you sustain it yourself before commenting on other people’s habits perhaps. It’s easy to evangelise in the honeymoon stage of a new lifestyle.
I would think a lot of people eat fewer ready meals than you have been doing and so have a different palate (e.g. being used to lower salt levels). Some supermarket produce tastes fine and if you cook a lot from scratch you end up knowing which is which.

I just went to look at Abel and Cole and in their “medium” £26.50 fruit and veg box, of the 9 items included, 5 are from outside the U.K. It appears you can opt to swap out some items so could select only seasonal British items - but you can choose to only buy seasonal British items at the supermarket if you want to, so I’m not sure of the USP of the box. It also definitely doesn’t look anywhere near enough to feed the 3-4 people it says it’s aimed at their five-a-day for a week, unless they’re eating very tiny portions, I reckon the average family would need at least two boxes, making it very expensive.

There are loads of meat and vegetable deliveries who post nationwide, you don't to have to have a farm shop.on your doorstep.

If you have Insta follow petite peonies and produce and provide. They are trying to model a new delivery system for farms direct to consumers.

As to price.... Well that is what it costs. What you get in supermarkets is massively discounted. We have lost the link to what food actually costs to produce. One of the reasons we are losing all our farmers. Try growing veg in your garden..... It is not cheap once you factor in seeds/plants, fertiliser, time..... And then it might be eaten by bugs or get blight.

I buy most of my veg and fruit from supermarkets but where possible I buy local or at least British and I don’t have an issue with it not having flavour . I eat lots of berries etc in the summer when you can get them in season then I don’t have them all winter as I don’t want a blueberry that has traveled from Chile etc .

I’m not suggesting it’s the solution just letting people know you don’t need to be near a farm to get a veg box

We have a farm shop that does fruit & vegetables plus some lovely meat (beef & pork).
I agree the quality is soo much better than what is in supermarkets. The vegetables also have a lower water content which means in theory you will eat less.

There is a variety of winter vegetables that should be in your boxes: cabbage, leek & sprouts plus all manner of root vegetables from carrots to beetroot.

Fruit is a bit more tricky as it's apples & pears but then you could also offer nuts: walnuts, hazelnuts & chestnut can all be grown in the UK.
As you see, I am all about eating local & seasonal. Unfortunately this type of eating is very much a lifestyle choice as it is expensive and time consuming. But then, what price do you put on your health & wellbeing?

I mean, even towns and cities have weekly or monthly markets, no???

Even in our tiny village we get a weekly market for bread and veg, a hangover from COVID.

They are expensive and I need to be home at a certain to recieve it randomly placed between 10am and 2 pm. I am working so no.

Abel and Cole boxes... Jesus, Mary and Joseph, some people are utterly unaware of the cost of living crisis, aren't they?

I try to buy as much fruit and veg as possible from the ethnic grocers down the road. The quality of the produce is high, it lasts well and there is plenty of choice. Its also cheap as chips compared to Sainsbury's, particularly as i can buy the quantities i need rather than the plastic bags-ful that the supermarket sells me!

I agree. I was buying at my local farm shop, but most of the veg was not local and often in worse condition than the supermarket veg. We grow quite a lot of our own, but this time of year not much left and the attrition from insects and wildlife is pretty bad. I often wonder how all the bought veg looks so pristine, our homegrown greens always have insect and caterpillar damage, root veg damaged by slugs and sometimes mice, etc, etc.

Because supermarket veg come from farms too.

I buy seasonal British veg from a massive Tesco with a fast turnover. This week, we have had potatoes, parsnips, sprouts, cauliflower, carrots, swede, celery, onions, garlic, brocolli, leeks. All with good flavour. I cook from scratch, steam most veg and have not had an issue.

I agree that salad and fruit are infinitely better grown at home. Supermarket lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers, and strawberries, raspberries, figs etc can be pretty tasteless but that's because they are grown under lights and or picked before they are ripe, rather than ripened in the sun.

Thankfully all are easy to grow at home.

Ugh I’ve been sucked in again

We've got a community grocer which I've wanted to try for ages as their fruit and veg always looks good quality (and some of it is vastly cheaper than the supermarket). Unfortunately it's only open 3 days a week for a few hours during the day (one of the days for two hours only), never at weekends, so I've not managed over. It would be difficult to do it regularly as well as it's a half hour walk each way. Convenience is a massive factor.

Costs too much for most people - isn’t it obvious.

I’d grow my own but according to a pp I’d apparently also need ducks. Not sure I can manage that to be honest