Fruit and veg boxes - are they good value for money?

JenniO

Tried it twice, to be honest, i found it very expensive as potatoes, carrots, onions etc are sooo cheap in the shops. But the thing that got to me, and i'm sorry if this sounds pathetic, was the bugs! :eek:

I spent half an hour at least trying to dip lettuce in water to get all the bugs out of it and to be honest I was so scared when i ate my salad that I didn't get all the bugs out, I just couldn't enjoy it. The whole experience, including the amount of soil and dirt to clean off the vegetables, just made me feel a bit exhausted!

sorry but just thought you should get as many scenarios as possible before deciding to spend that kind of money every week on veg.

thriftmonster

I like the concept and we do have one sometimes, but have stopped again as it's very seasonal - too much for us. Noone eats swede, only ds2 and I eat cabbage and we can't eat one every week, only I eat beetroot and we're sick of chard.. So I have compromised by changing to the local greengrocer who also sells very local stuff (all labelled) but not organic - but I can pick what we want - more leeks, carrots and onions, less potatoes etc.

Plus it's supporting a local shop which a lot of pensioners etc use - and the stuff is very fresh and the last time I was in the owner called to the girl on the till "Don't give her a bag - she'll have her own" - they obviously remember me!!

luxor4t

A flyer came through the door - local company, organic, special offer, choice...great! so gave it a go.

Sadly, their £10, 'special starter offer' bag was not delivered when they stated it would, and so was left in the full sun, wrapped in 3 layers of plastic on a very hot day.

I found a smelly, muddy, sweaty lump which had wormy carrots and potatoes that looked like they had been stamped on stuck together in the bottom of the bag. On top was a sealed plastic bag of grey/ yellow leaves (rocket?), 2 blackened apples, 2 triangular, yellowish oranges, 3 tomatoes (one split) on a bit of stalk in a paperbag, a bloody (= uncooked but soft and dripping) beetroot and what looked like a mop head but turned out to be wilted-beyond-use lettuce. I assumed the additional livestock (small orange centipede, a few tiny wire worms, colourless crawly things on the lettuce) were a free gift.

As everything, except for the carrots and potatoes, was from abroad the food miles were enormous.
Most of it was inedible and , due to the sun, unappetising anyway.

I did, eventually, pay for the bag just to get rid of the company, but was then pestered to take out further orders -now I hang up immediately, and they appear to have got the message.

I realise this does not mirror other people's experience, but I was very disappointed.

newlywed

I have a problem with veg boxes as I'm not at home on the days they want to deliver. We don't have any secure area where they could leave the box (live in a block of flats and the "security" doors are left wide open so anyone could help themselves). Even if they gave us a locking box by our door, I suspect that would just prove an appealing challenge in our area - so there's those things to think about too

liz545

I have a box delivered, and it works out well. Yes, you do get unusual/odd veg once in a while, but I kind of like looking through my recipe books to work out what I'm going to do with turnips/swede/celeriac. The element of surprise and challenge is why I like it - it makes me a bit more adventurous with my cooking! But if you tend to always get the same veg and your family have strong likes/dislikes then it might not be right for you. Maybe your local grocer/farm shop would be a better option - still local but you get to pick what you want!

dbelle

I've just been looking at the Riverford/River Nene boxes and it doesnt say how much you get of everything?
What is the weight of the potatoes?

Snazzy

I like my veg box because it keeps me out of Tescos so I avoid all those impulse buys. The box contents are posted on the web each week so I know in advance what I'll be getting and can meal plan. For me it works out well, but then I'm vegetarian and love my vegtables!

belfastgirl23

Wouldn't suit me because I'm not an adaptable enough cook to cope with this and at times I know I'd be too busy to either use all the veg or to blanche etc. I think if it works for your lifestyle and eating patterns it's great. But you have to be realistic about this.

Snazzy is right about the benefit of it keeping you out of tesco, but I find using the local fruit and veg shop does the same job for me. But we're lucky, we have a great shop very locally.

Would they let you have a one week trial so you could see how it goes?

odds-n-sods

I just weighed my bag of potatoes from rivernene, I got 1.2KG.
Carrots are about 1/2 that. You tend to get 1 cabbage, 1 swede, 1 celeriac, 3-6 beets, depending on the size, 1-2 fennels etc. If it is something like kale, there is enough for 4 for a side dish.

The medium box would do for 3-4 people easily for a week. If you have a family fussy about veg, then a veg box is not the best idea for you, as you're gonna get veg they probably wont eat..........

jennybb

I've been getting an organic box deliverered for the past 3 months or so. The quality on the whole is excellent. Like some others, I enjoy the challange of having to do new things with veg I may not have picked in the supermarket before. I like that it's seasonal, organic and as local as possible. We are eating more veg than before (I get a large box of fruit and veg for £18 which feeds 3 adults and a child at the moment).

We get some unusual stuff which is great. My favorite is romanesque (my daughter calls it alien brocolli - google it if you've not see it and you'll see why) I've eaten it in Italy but rarely see it for sale here.

Yes - we have the odd caterpillar in the box - but these are vegetables - they grow in the soil I don't mind washing the dirt off of stuff - rather dirt than pesticides for me.

Having said all of this - I tried a different company a few years ago and it was rubbish - didn't use them again. So may be worth shopping around.