Organic box schemes have been around for well over a decade now, but never before has there been such a variety of strongly ethical schemes, run by people who obviously care deeply about the world we all live in.
By Liam Bailey
An organic box scheme is a home delivery service for organic products, in this article I have featured 10 schemes all run in an ethical and sustainable way; growing their own produce, buying locally where possible and most companies only delivering their fresh organic produce locally; limiting the miles travelled (food miles) and therefore pollution from vans and lorries. Although some schemes featured supply Fair-trade products, all supply organic products only, which alongside delivering locally often means reduced income at least in the early years. This shows that the people running the schemes care less about profits and more about the environment.
The organic food industry has been growing steadily for years now but some still don’t know the difference. Well, as you may have seen in April’s issue of Lifescape growing numbers of celebrities are buying organic, this is because organic produce is free of harmful chemicals from pesticides and artificial fertilizers, fresh organic produce contains up to 50% more vitamins and minerals, and celebrities are what they eat. For further reasons why buying Organic is much better for the environment and us see Ref 1: top reasons to go organic. If now knowing the difference you want to join the growing number of people and go organic, read on, between them the schemes in this article deliver to most of the UK.
Delivering from the tip of Lands end to London, Oxfordshire, and part of South Wales is Riverford organic vegetables. Guy Watson converted his father’s farm to organic status in 1987, it is now one of Britain’s largest independent organic growers and part of the South Devon Organic Producer group with 14 other family run local farms. Between them growing 85 different varieties of vegetables, on land spanning from Dartmoor to the coast where the warm sea air provides frost-protection allowing the growing of winter crops, keeping Riverford boxes interesting all year round. Their range includes: carrots, purple sprouting broccoli, cauliflower, leeks, mushrooms, spring greens, butternut squash, flat lettuce, valor potatoes, orla potatoes, and onions. Organic boxes of such quality cost from £7.50 for a mini-veg box to £13.50 for a large-veg box and £13 for a mixed box. Fruit alone will cost you £7.50 for a box containing oranges, pears, royal gala apples, bananas and a melon. Riverford customers receive a newsletter and recipes with every order.
Delivering to Central Berkshire and South Oxfordshire including Marlow, Reading, Wokingham, Bracknell, and Henley on Thames is Eat Organic, starting sale of organic produce from an old van in 1988, and growing into a successful home delivery service. Diana May and Francesca Perino took over the business in November 2005, maintaining quality by spending a day each week checking all their fruit and veg, ensuring all vegetables are fresh each week, and wherever possible delivering within hours of picking. Customers can order individually from their selection of over 400 fruit and vegetables, organic drinks, meat, poultry, fish (certified by Marine Stewardship Council), vegetarian products, milk, eggs, dairy, bakery, and pantry products. Unusual vegetables including Radicchio, land cress, curly kale, and cabbage spring greens are grown on site meaning they are delivered within hours of picking, and with the full range can also be ordered in three seasonal boxes: a vegetable box for two at £10, salad box for two at £7, and fruit box for two at £10.
The scheme with among the biggest range of organic boxes is Abel & Cole, delivering across London, south to Poole in Dorset, westerly to Cheltenham and Bristol and as far as Cambridge to the North since 1993. Customers can order meat, sustainably sourced fish, dairy products, bread, wine, beer and household products, as well as their fresh produce, with occasional treats like white sprouting broccoli, seasonal treats like blueberries in the summer and organic turkeys for Christmas in 13 different boxes, which tailored to individual needs range from £6.50 to £22.00. Including a small mixed organic box typically containing: aubergine, bananas, carrots, cauliflower, courgettes, oranges, pears and potatoes, enough for a couple over a week for just £10.00. Or Able mixed organic box with: courgettes, globe artichoke, green lettuce, green pointed cabbage, kiwi fruit, oranges, pears, potatoes, and white onions, for 3-5 people over a week at £14.80. Able & Cole send out weekly newsletters to their customers, with supplier stories and two recipes.
Also sending out newsletters and recipes with their boxes is London based, The Organic Delivery Company, known for their exceptionally high standards of quality and freshness. Delivering their eight set boxes of dairy products, dairy free products, pasta, pantry items, beer and wines, and wiggly wiggler composters, alongside their range of fresh organic produce to all the London postcodes, as well as Kingston, Richmond, Croydon, Sutton and Enfield. The Organic Delivery Company allow its customers to make up their own boxes, selecting products individually from their range. Their set boxes range from £11.95 for a small veg or fruit box containing for example: carrots, tender greens, onions, leeks, aubergine, broccoli and courgettes, and Gala apples, D'Anjou pears and oranges respectively. To £24.95 for a large fruit&veg box typically containing: carrots, tender greens, onions, leeks, aubergine, broccoli, courgettes, celery, Batavia lettuce, green peppers and tomatoes.
Also known for high standards, delivering by local distributors in Eastern England and part of the Midlands is Riverford’s sister company, Rivernene Organic Vegetables. Since April 2000, Rivernene have kept their service simple, like Riverford offering a range of six seasonal boxes. Ranging from £4 for a small fruit bag containing apples, bananas and oranges, £7.50 for a fruit box containing the same with additional mangoes and pears, or a mini veg box containing purple sprouting broccoli, carrots, cauliflower, onions, salad pack, and Orla potatoes. For £9 is the small veg box containing the same except the salad pack, with the addition of leeks, mushrooms and pak choi, a medium veg box contains the same as the small except leeks, with the addition of courgettes, parsnips and peppers for £11.50. Rivernene’s large £13.50 veg box has the contents of all veg boxes except the salad pack, pak choi, and peppers, with additional lettuce, rocket lettuce, and celery. Their £13 mixed box contains apples, bananas, plums, fennel, purple sprouting broccoli, cauliflower, celery, leeks, mushrooms, and a salad pack, newsletters and recipes go with every order.
Those of you in Lutterworth, Rugby or the surrounding villages, may have seen Naturally Good Food's van making Thursday deliveries, they offer a same day delivery throughout Leicestershire using a courier. Naturally Good Food are another scheme allowing their customers to order goods separately or as set boxes, but unique in letting it’s customers specify a set value each week, leaving the selection to them. Naturally good food certainly has plenty of variety, and ethical variety at that, they grow lettuce, tomatoes, courgettes, Helda beans, fresh garlic, supplying alongside their large range of organic produce, a range of whole-foods, gluten free, dairy free, and fair-trade products mostly local and all organic. Including non-homogenised milk and cream bought locally from Lubcloud dairy, and local meat from Elmhurst organic farm. Naturally good food now supply only Fair-trade bananas and coffees, along with many of their teas, their Demerara sugar, and Divine chocolate. Also selling organic toiletries puts Naturally Good Food at the forefront of the organic home delivery industry.
As is north Lincolnshire’s Eden Farms, supplying organic produce throughout Lincolnshire, Nottinghamshire, and Leicestershire since 1983. Growing a range of fifty vegetables, Eden farms guarantee delivery within twenty-four hours of picking with the slogan. “Taste the difference, feel the crunch!” Their pick and mix service allows customers to choose individual items from their range, or select from eight seasonal boxes complete with newsletter and recipes. A late April veg box might contain: carrots, onions, cauliflower (family box), chestnut mushrooms, leeks, Desiree potatoes, purple sprouting, salad bags, lettuce, and sweet potatoes (family boxes) all produced in the UK. Seasonal boxes include: a 3kg fruit box containing mixed fruit for £6.50, a small veg box containing approx 2.5kg of 7-8 different vegetables for £7.50, and the extreme veg box containing up to 15 varieties and extra family staples is £15. At £15.50 the 7-8kg family fruit and veg box containing 10 vegetable varieties, and 4 fruit varieties has stand-alone value for money.
Another company offering individual selection as well as set bags, delivering throughout Wales, Western England, Bath, Bradford on Avon, Wiltshire and London is Carmarthen based Organics To Go. Offering organic eggs, cheeses, butter, granola, and marmalade, alongside their range of 35 different fruits and vegetables including: potatoes or new potatoes, onions, celeriac, parsnips, beetroot, purple sprouting broccoli, white cabbage, red cabbage, sweet potatoes, and pak choi. Set bags contain a selection of vegetables, salad and fruit ranging from: £6.50 for a small bag for a single person or couple, a standard bag for 3-4 people £9.50 and a large bag for 4-5 people £12.50, with customers stating any preferences such as no cabbage. Organics To Go grow most of their terrifically varied range so crops travel only a few hundred yards to be packed, you can’t get less food miles than that. Excellent growing facilities mean they make most deliveries within 24 hours of picking, giving excellent freshness from one of the most ethical companies around.
Another is Farmaroundnorth, delivering across North Yorkshire and Northern England, and unique in allowing customers to bolt additional modules onto their order. Including the green module with: cauliflower, Savoy cabbage, French beans and purple sprouting broccoli for £6, the Mediterranean module containing: white mushrooms, courgettes, green peppers, French beans, Swiss chard and fennel for £7.50, and the salad module at £6 containing: iceberg lettuce, tomatoes-on-the-vine, rocket, bean sprouts and Hass avocados. Their range of 4 set vegetable bags, in spring containing a selection of: red potatoes, carrots, onions, Savoy cabbage, cauliflower, purple sprouting broccoli, tomatoes-on-the-vine, courgettes, asparagus, flat parsley, Swede, beetroot, and fennel. Prices range from £7.00 for a mini bag for one person, to £13.60 for a luxury bag for 2-4 people. Fruit bags range from a mini bag for one person at £5.00, to a luxury bag for 2-4 people at £12.70 containing selections of: bananas, Ataulfo mangoes, Golden apples, Anjou pears, Valencia late oranges, Star Ruby Grapefruit, Kiwis and Gallia melons.
I only found two schemes in Scotland ethical enough to include. The first, Stair Organic Growers cover South-South West Scotland including Ayrshire, Glasgow, and Renfrewshire. Growing fine organic produce, while nurturing local wildlife by planting hedgerows in their field margins since 1996, Stair organic growers have been delivering to homes since 2000. Allowing customers to select from five seasonal boxes ranging from £14 for a box of vegetables, to £15 for a mixed box, or individual items from a range of chicken, eggs, dairy and non-dairy products, alongside their own produce range: Batavia green lettuce, Marvel Of Four Seasons lettuce, Perpetual spinach, spring onions and Swiss chard. A range of potatoes, swede, red cabbage, large beetroot, purple sprouting broccoli, and Tundra cabbage from local producers, and Hass avocados, aubergines, broad beans, Fortuna clementines, lemons, kiwis, Star Ruby grapefruit and Jonagold apples from Europe and further a field. Although most of the schemes covered source some of their range from abroad, I mention where S.O.G source their produce only because they are forced to import so much because of poor Scottish weather.
Bee-Organic, covering North Scotland including Dundee, Perth, North Fife, Tayport, Newport, and St Andrews are in the same boat sourcing in winter around 65% of their produce abroad, and 40% in the summer, though like Stair organic they are still a highly ethical company. As well as organic eggs, Bee-organic deliver fruit and vegetables in five set boxes: the mini fruit and veg box, the small veg box at £10, the standard veg box at £13, the standard fruit and veg box at £16, and the salad selection at £10. As well as providing set boxes Bee-Organic allow customers to select a set box and any extras from their range, or make up their own by selecting individually from their comparatively large range, making them among the most versatile schemes in Scotland. All clearly priced, their range includes: cauliflower, four types of cabbage including white and Chinese, celery, carrots, butternut squash, strawberries, bananas, avocados apples and much more.
If I haven’t covered a scheme delivering to your area you can visit Living Ethically, you will see links for local deliveries, and national organic deliveries, by searching both you will probably find a scheme delivering locally in your area, but if not national schemes are the next best thing. Including Able & Cole and Naturally Good Food, there are many highly ethical schemes delivering throughout Mainland UK, but unfortunately, despite thoroughly searching the web I could not find a scheme delivering to Northern Ireland. Luckily, there are many schemes currently delivering anywhere in the UK, unfortunately I could only cover one of them, see Ref 2: Organics 4-u
Ref 1: Top reasons to go organic:
Organic produce isn’t covered in a cocktail of poisonous chemicals, unlike conventionally grown crops.
Organic food contains on average 50% more vitamins, minerals, and nutrients than conventional produce.
Buying organic is the only practical way to avoid eating genetically modified food.
Organic farmers look after nature and the environment.
Organic produce tastes so much better, full of juice and flavour
There is scientific evidence proving higher instances of cancer, respiratory problems, and other diseases in farm workers using conventional methods, than organic methods.
Organic food isn’t more expensive than conventional food, the latter we pay for through taxes to cover the billions spent on cleaning agro-chemicals from water supplies, and on things like the BSE crisis.
If you like the idea of our children and grandchildren playing in the fields for years to come, go organic for our and their futures.
Ref 2: Organics 4-u
Set up in 2005 providing next day delivery on a range of five seasonal boxes of fresh organic fruit, vegetables and other products direct to anywhere in the UK, including Northern Ireland and the Scottish islands for an additional £10, Organics 4-u are already one of the UK’s largest organic home delivery services. I can personally vouch for the freshness of their produce, when I opened the box they sent me as a free trial I could immediately tell that it was incredibly fresh, most of the vegetables still having soil on them. I used most of the vegetables in a sausage casserole, and as well as being incredibly fresh they all tasted delicious, the box also contained: a fresh beetroot, closed white mushrooms, carrots, parsnips, cauliflower, Swede, potatoes, onions, cherry tomatoes, leeks, a large cucumber, apples, pears and clementines, from their range of 26 fruits and vegetables. Other products were basil pesto, penne pasta, and oatcakes.
