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

Caterina

Caroline, that Hornbeam Centre sounds like a dream, I would love to visit it!

Caterina

glitterycloud

Im getting a veg box for the first time this year its being delivered on 23 Dec, my sister is Downs and works at a placement called "growing places" its a centre that produces its own veg and also sources local veg, honey, eggs ect. She boxes up the veg and works alongside other disabled adults. My sister has worked there for over 5 years (i think) and its the first time I am getting a box delivered. My mum gets on every year for christmas, I should get on more regular, I think the prices are £7 for a small box and £12 for a big box (i may be wrong on this i am going on memory!) The christmas box is a special at £16, but I think it contains alot.

caroline1973lefty

Caterina wrote: »

Caroline, that Hornbeam Centre sounds like a dream, I would love to visit it!

Caterina

yes, it is indeed a lovely place, you should drop by if you get a chance! went to their chutney making class recently... I feel lucky to have met others who live near me who are interested in rediscovering & sharing old skills and crafts, make do and mend type stuff, as well as organic gardening, energy saving etc. I think all these type of projects are on the rise. I have found out about these sort of projects in my area partly through doing a permaculture course, and also gettng a bit involved in transition town networks, these are good ways of making local connections (the permaculture course introduced me to lots of local projects (including other ones with box schemes, like Growing Communities) that i'd never heard of even though i've lived round here all my life!). Oops - sorry if gone a bit off topic!

bytesize

Hello all,

I have been reading some old threads about veg boxes, and I'm really surprised how many people order them!

I'm doing some research on buying local foods, and I was wondering if there is anything that veg boxes don't provide, that maybe you wish they would?

For example, I wish that I could create my own fuit and vegetable order like my Sainsburys online shopping rather than waiting to see what arrives.

What do you think - is there anything you wish veg boxes could do that they don't right now?

Thanks in advance,

John

Olliebeak

Only had them a couple of times, but found that there were only about 2-3lbs of potatoes for some strange reason - all those veggies but only a tiny amount of spuds!

competitionscafe

bytesize wrote: »

For example, I wish that I could create my own fuit and vegetable order like my Sainsburys online shopping rather than waiting to see what arrives.

I like the surprise element. And I guess the farmer provides whatever is ready to harvest that particular week. Mine offers free-range eggs and bread (from a local bakery) which is a nice addition. I know some which offer meat or poultry as well.

liz545

I had a regular Riverford box for a while, and I really liked it, but the biggest problem for me was that you couldn't make any changes or substitutions. I kind of liked the element of surprise in that you might get some really random ingredients you might not think to buy in the shop, but there was no way to omit things you really didn't like or had a glut of. The Abel & Cole boxes, by comparison, are more expensive, and I don't like that they buy the produce and sell it on, rather than growing it as with Riverford. I like the ability to add milk, eggs etc to my order, but often this can work out very expensive. HTH!

owlet

Thanks for that bravo, I will have a look at Riverford tomorrow and see how they compare. Although I am happy with boxfresh at the moment I am always up for finding better and will try Riverford and see! Does anyone know of any small local farm boxschemes in Shropshire?

bytesize

Thank you for your replies!

Do you find the veg boxies are good value for money?

I know they are fresher, but is it worth spending more money vs a supermarket? How much more expensive were your veg box vegetables?

I'm thinking it might have been worth buying a year or two ago, but with the prices of everything going up are veg boxes still good value?

Sorry for all the questions!

competitionscafe

bytesize wrote: »

Thank you for your replies!

Do you find the veg boxies are good value for money?

There is a whole thread on this topic here:
Veg boxes - are they good value for money?
http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=108764

And a price comparison here (supermarket vs vegbox vs market vs greengrocer) :
http://blog.klockworks.co.uk/blog/_archives/2008/9/7/3872286.html

Obviously they vary a lot between different providers, but my short answer would be yes.