Well well, it's been so long I'm certain any followers I did have are no longer looking for updates! Such is the blogging life - it's essential to be on top of it all the time if you have any hope of being read.
Well, I'm now a married woman, and while it's no excuse it was indeed the wedding and related festivities that has been keeping me from posting my final verdict about the produce boxes.
So, what did I try? what did I love? and would I do it again?
I've been asked these questions dozens of times since starting this blog, and I will try my best to give you the answers you're after.
My final rating of Toronto produce boxes is as follows:
#1 The Good Food Box (Foodshare)
I just loved the Good Food Box, and now firmly believe it's the best produce box going in Toronto.
What I really appreciated were the wide variety of options. While you could splurge to get yourself a box full of organic-only produce, you didn't have to - and this is what sets the Good Food Box apart from the rest. As I've said time and time again, I believe in supporting our local growers more than I believe in obsessing over the word 'organic'. If it's local and organic all the better! One thing is for sure - we're not going to be able to get our local farmers on board with growing organic food, if we don't support what they're already growing in the meantime!
Add the focus on 'local' to the fact their conventionally grown produce boxes are about half the price of any of their competitors, it seems silly to choose anyone else. On top of this, the produce quality was phenomenal (both conventionally grown and organic).
Of course, there are some drawbacks, otherwise there would be no competition right?
First, this is the only service that doesn't offer delivery to your door. You are required to pick up your box at a location in your area (there were several to choose from within a 5 minute drive for me).
Second, you don't know what you're getting in advance. Now this can be a good thing if you like adventure, but it can be a bad thing when you already have 10lbs of potatoes and you're schedule to get another 5lb without the option to substitute.
These 2 drawbacks may be significant enough for people looking for convenience, and or the option of doing specific meal planning for the week.
#2 Mama Earth Organics
The next four options are all in the same league - they focus on organic produce delivery to your door. MEO had the easiest and most convenient sign up option - it was all done online, with no need to connect with someone by phone in order to get your first delivery. You would think this would make things more profitable for them, but they still charge a $10 sign up fee, the only company to do this. I also received excellent customer service when there was a glitch in my delivery (which was entirely my fault).
The quality of the produce was outstanding, and I received a good variety of fruit and vegetables that were interesting - the best of all companies, GFB included.
I was emailed about what would arrive in my box 4 days in advance, and given an unlimited substitution option for $2 (a regular box is $35), which I really took advantage of. All of the substitutions are made online with quick and easy drop down menus.
#3 Front Door Organics
This company offered great customer service, and I received an email 3 days prior to delivery telling me what I should expect to receive, making meal planning and grocery shopping for the week easier.
The price of the 'regular box' went up by $2 while I was receiving deliveries from them, which was more than double the cost of the GFB ($37 vs. $17) for roughly the same amount of produce. In addition, there was only an option for substitution if you purchased the 'custom fresh box' which allowed for unlimited substitutions, costing $42. I was also not impressed with the quality or variety of fruit from FDO, and once had to ask for a replacement because of severely under ripe bananas that I thought wouldn't ever ripen (they did...**blush**), the complaint however, was handled perfectly.
#4 Green Earth Organics
Easy breezy online sing up, and I received delivery only 2 days later. The regular box is $37 with up to 4 substitutions included with each delivery.
The delivery itself was a disappointment. The substitution I requested was not honoured, and two of the items in my box were literally and obviously rotting - i still can't believe someone would actually let it be delivered. I even took a picture of one of them (bok choy) and emailed it to customer service. I did receive a reply with an apology and offer to replace those items immediately though. My 2nd and 3rd deliveries were better, but still underwhelming - considering I received my GEO deliveries during the peak of spring harvest (June, July) I think I expected more than root vegetables and leaf lettuce week after week.
#5 Wanigan Fruits and Vegetables
The biggest perk with Wanigan is the option to do 2 free substitutions with each delivery. I also found they had a lot of interesting options - including a local-only box.
However, I found I didn't receive as much produce with this service, and I did not find the quality of the produce to be on par with the others. Part of it could be that they are the only company who don't use delivery containers; they make deliveries in large plastic bags which may bang up the contents a bit - for a company who prides themselves on providing environmentally sustainable produce, wasting a big thick plastic bag with each delivery doesn't make much sense to me.
Another drawback for me was the late delivery time - I received my first delivery after 6:30pm and had already starting making something else thinking it wasn't coming. Sign up online seemed easy, until you realize you went through the whole process and can't pay online, or start the delivery until you've spoken to someone on the phone.
Unable to judge - Plan B Organic Farms
for more info on why I was unable to judge, check out my last post (from July).
So all in all a very worthwhile experience. I loved starting a blog and sharing my cooking exploits with friends, family and strangers, and I loved the challenge of always have to think of something new and creative to cook up.
What I didn't love was the pressure to use ALL the produce and ensure there was no waste - life gets busy sometimes, and I hated that guilty feeling when something didn't get used before it went bad. It didn't happen all that often, but when I choose and buy my own produce, it rarely happens.
Will I continue to get produce boxes? nah, don't think so. I love shopping for produce. I love walking in to my local family run fruit and veggie markets and grocery store and touching, smelling and feasting my eyes on all of the produce - and then getting to decide which is the freshest and most appealing.
I would definitely recommend trying it though, especially if you have a creative side, you're interested in cooking more or making new and interesting meals. This process has definitely made me fearless when it comes to choosing less common produce I may have never tried had it not been forced on me (think celeriac, Jerusalem artichokes, fiddle heads, cabbage varieties, squash varieties).
Now that my petit projet is finished, what next? I've been asking myself this question for the last couple of months, and haven't come up with a definitive plan as of yet. I'm still taking photos of my food, and now that fall is here my exuberance for comfort food (my favorite kind!) is back. I'd love to share it in some way, so if anyone has an idea for me - please email me!
it's been fun - happy eating y'all!
