veg boxes - i still dont knwo why you just dont go to the shops

[FluffyMummy123]

Message withdrawn

wtf is swiss chard?

I buy organic milk and we buy decent meat or go to the farmer (1 ponce point)

but veg I just get wherever

PMSL @

'cos you all come on here winegine about curly farkign kale'

i tried to join in on the veg box thing

but who was i trying to kid - i eat not enough veg to warrant it - kept having to throw out mouldy cbbage and sweet potatoes

NQC - you live near borough market though why the veg box?

borough market fabulous but not the cheapest optiona round iirc

kind of place you pop to for posh olives and a nice bit of cheese but i wouldn't get my weekly shop there (used to live aorund the corner)

It's local

The stuff is truly delicious

It makes us eat more veg because it sits there accusingly and doesn't keep well

It's a bit like Christmas finding out what we've got each week and I need to take my pleasures in whatever humble way they come these days

i like curly kale. I do it with garlic and chilli.

I used to live so close to it too - went to big opening thing with 2 fat ladies and used to shop there when you had to sweet talk the blokes as it was supposed to be wholesale.

Ahhh!

Cod, my dear:

no evidence that organic is better if it's the same otherwise, eg a carrot of the same variety kept for an equal length of time is not going to taste any better than a conventionally grown one (and will probably be bendier etc)

BUT

organic farmers are more likely to use varieties that are grown for flavour rather than uniformity, keeping qualities etc, and often they are quicker at getting it to you from the field.

So in practice if you have a good supplier it actually will taste loads better.

organic gin though - what's that all about? Is full of toxins anyway.

yes I buy farmers meat [phnarr]

his sausages are lovely and firm

I don't know Bish - I think 'only consume toxins if they are fun' would be a pretty good dietary rule.

oh yes and thick

someone detail what they got in their veg box this week and teh price and i'll go to LIDL and get the same and tell you what mine cost.

i can spend £7 on fruit and veg from lidl and all three of my children will get a piece of fruit each day for a week, or i can spend the same in the supermarket and ensure one of my children gets a piece of fruit every day.

veg boxes cost more than a supermarket, do they?

Personally i shop at the greengrocers...v. cheap. Also have an allotment...defo the best way for being forced to be inventive with truck loads of veg....50 ways to cook with courgettes anyone??

Dont see the environmental argument for veg boxes...if you are getting pineapples, sweet potato and any other vaguely exotic fruit/veg then surely you dont think these are grown in blighty!!

Fairtrade...lots of veg grown in this country using low paid eastern european labour living onsite in grim conditions??

As for organic/non organic then speaking as someone who works for the pesticide regulator i would avoid any type of baby leaf lettuce and leaves and remove outer leaves from whole lettuce. But most other stuff i wouldnt worry about...but wash everything before use. Organic doesnt necessarily mean no pesticides used

how local is a local box scheme?
our veg boxes were delivered from Wales (we're in N London).
If I lived more rurally I'd hunt out a smallholder. I met one recently, he cuts produce on Friday and everyone comes and collects their boxes from his yard that afternoon. Nothing has been out of the ground for more than a few hours. It's not as cheap as supermarkets (costs £25 a week in high season when there's lots of produce) but on the other hand, it's the man's living.
Not many smallholders around though .

But what if you don't have a local greengrocer? Here are my choices re fruit/veg:

Asda online order
drive to Asda in my lunchhour
drive to Asda at weekend with children in tow
drive to local farmshop
buy from local general store which has limited range/quantites and dubious quality

swiss chard

agree bakedpotato re issue of how local veg scheme is. Ours is in North Yorks and we are in West Yorks. Not as local as I would like. Also it does make it clear on ours which stuff is locally grown and which they have had to import to fill gaps.

gerrof, swiss chard tastes like mud, bundle
[tongue out]

The pineapples and sweet potato are sent by boat, not plane, so aren't too bad, environmentally. It's airfreighted food that's completely horrible for the environment.