Food boxes - the answer to our prayers?
"This is amazing, this is my favourite way to cook. I have every ingredient, I have a recipe, I know what I’m doing, it’s healthy and it’s interesting. It’s all the things I love about cooking. How much does this cost, can we afford it?" - a satisfied customer (who can afford it)
Once again it seems I am completely out of touch. But then I am not young, I am not working (neither is my husband) and I don't have young children - i.e. I am not time poor. But the time poor, it seems, are increasingly turning to food boxes. They are also turning to takeaway, frozen dinners and home delivered meals of course, but one step up the healthy food chain as it were is the food box.
How did I get on to this? Well I bought a bargain cookbook by Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall the other day and somewhere in his introductions and preambles he mentioned vegetable boxes as a way to make sure you ate fresh vegetables. He said it gave you the impetus and inspiration to be seasonal and to try something new. Indeed he even admitted to subscribing to such a scheme himself in the winter, organic of course, as his vegetable garden is not so productive then. So I wondered whether this was something that has hit Australia as yet - and it seems that only I and Woolworths are behind the trend here.
I'm not going to do a review of the various companies here - how could I without testing them out, but I will mention a few by name - simply as a brief run down on what is available, and roughly how much it would cost you - here in Eltham on the northern fringes of Melbourne.
The options available include boxes of fruit, of vegetables, of fruit and vegetables or of everything you need, including the recipes, for a whole week's meals, not to mention, in some cases, individual items as well. And they vary in size - for two to four people as well. I think a couple of them may have given you options to express a dislike of something, but mostly I think not. I also checked out Choice to see what they had to say on the matter - not a lot really - but they did compare the cost of you shopping for yourself in Coles or Woolworths and said there was not a lot in it. Well - not too sure about that and I will come back to that.
So what is available out here in suburban Melbourne? Well it seems to me there are five main options, possibly more and I apologise to them if there are. When I was doing my cost comparisons I was looking at boxes of vegetables for two people. I think they varied in how many meals they did, but this was not absolutely clear.
Almost top of the line is the organic option - Organic Origins is the closest company to us - now their food may be wonderful but gee is it pricey. $60.00 for a mixed box of fruit and vegetables for two people - no extras - just the fruit and vegetables. Then there is the small family business, From the Earth ($25.00 - that's their box on the left). A more personal service here I suspect. There is also Aussie Farmers Direct ($28.00) - a slightly larger company with a few more options I guess - their box is in the centre above. Hello Fresh is an international company which is German in origin and which is the one that gives you the whole package - recipes and all ($74.95) and I'm not entirely sure whether they deliver to Eltham - I would have to order something to find out, and last but very probably not least - Coles who do a veggie box for $22.00 in their online store - the last one in the trio above. Woolworths - the fresh food people, like me, has not twigged to this trend as yet.
I confess I am a bit torn about this. For me it wouldn't work. I love shopping - especially food shopping. My fortnightly trip to the market is a highlight in my life. I do try to shop seasonally and Australian and the market is cheaper than elsewhere, though I do look out for supermarket specials too. I guess the downside of this is that I tend to buy too much and sometimes waste stuff that has gone off. Organic - I tend to think is a bit of a rip off. I have never really understood why it is so, so much more expensive. Yes I know there is all that certification, and there are no economies of scale, but with scale goes expensive equipment and expensive chemicals and fertilisers, and expensive staff and buildings as well, so I would have thought the smaller scale would be balanced out by lower production costs. And yes I know I should grow my own, but experience has taught me that I am an absolutely dreadful gardener. I just do not have green thumbs. I grow most of my own herbs but that's it. When I looked at the actual contents of the boxes I also thought that I would not find them very satisfactory. Some of them, for example, had just one onion and two potatoes - for a whole week! I would be having to go and buy extra stuff. Though I suppose if you went for the complete package that included the recipes and the meat and fish, etc. you might be OK, because theoretically you have exactly what you need for the suggested meals.
However, if I was one of those time poor - but probably reasonably well off people, then maybe it would be a good thing. Especially if you don't enjoy either shopping or cooking. So can you afford it? Well if you buy breakfast in cafés and regularly dine out or have takeaway, yes indeed you can. If you are poor - no you can't - though the cheaper options might just be possible. And you can do better - you can shop in the Queen Vic Market, or similar (not expensive farmer's markets), shop wisely in the supermarket, or if you have green thumbs you can grow your own, either in your own garden or a community one.
And Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, who started all this for me has some tips on how to make the best of the boxes - he's talking about a basic supply of vegetables, not a box with recipes and other things.
"Always tackle the leafy grans and salads within the first few days of your box's arrival. Try to use up everything in the box before the next one arrives. And never despair at the mounting frequency of roots, cabbages and kales as the winter wears on ... you won't be short of exciting and surprising ways to make them sing for your supper." If you have his cookbook that is!
