Reducing my Ecological Footprint | Eating Seasonal Vegetables
It's Wednesday again and time for my lucky dip organic vegetable box delivery. This week I've gone back to the mini fruit and vegetable box as we were starting to be overrun with potatoes. And lettuces. Those of you who said, "That's a lot of vegetables!" last week were right - we're still munching!
This week's selection clockwise from bottom left: seven pieces of fruit, tomatoes, mushrooms, fennel, spring onions, celery, little gem lettuces, aparagus, carrots and potatoes.
The vegetables are all grown locally (within about 100 miles) and are typical seasonal vegetables for the UK at this time of year. I rang up to see where the fruit came from - I don't think any of that is local. The sorts of fruits that are available here now - strawberries and apricots - are soft and wouldn't travel well. British fruit is starting to be available in our local Co-op, so I might adjust my order next week.
The Lettuce Situation
We've had a lettuce every week, so far: looseleaf red oakleaf, Cos (a type of romaine lettuce) and now, little gem. I'm halfway through one, another is waiting in the cold store and now two more have arrived. We're not great eaters of salads, so I will need to look for some recipes that use lettuce, probably soups. Any ideas gratefully received in the comments 😍
Cos lettuce on the left - we used to eat this with a dip of demerara sugar and malt vinegar; looseleaf red oakleaf on the right at the back - I like this with a steak or burger dinner; and in the front, little gem lettuces.
Meanwhile, in the Vegetable Garden ...
... The slugs have helped themselves to the last standing broccoli plant. I'm going to put some gravel around the stems and a few strategically placed beer traps and see if they recover.
Reducing my Ecological Footprint
Ordering organic fruit and vegetable deliveries is part of trying to reduce my ecological footprint. Small steps, big rewards. For all of us. You can find out about your ecological footprint in this post by @phoenixwren.
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Thank you!
Hey @shanibeer - just found these recipes that may be helpful:
https://insteading.com/blog/lettuce-recipes-not-salad/
http://www.soveryblessed.com/2012/04/10/enchilada-pizza/
https://diethood.com/omelette-wrap
Fabulous, thank you 😊
That enchilada pizza looks good!
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Oh my goodness! I see what you mean about those blast slugs!!!
May i ask: how is it for you to receive the produce boxes that you do? Does it turn out to be cost effective?
Hi, I've only just seen your comment, sorry for the late reply.
The produce boxes come from local organic farms (and there is a big company called Abel & Cole which is good if you don't have a local producer). I use Eden Farms, which are based in Lincolnshire, about 85 miles away.
I probably spend about the same amount of money each week on the boxes as I would at a shop, but the cost of individual items is higher than in a shop, depending where you shop. Asda (owned by Walmart) will always offer lower priced produce but it has higher airmiles, they are only interested in price, so smaller producers are squeezed out, and they have a poor employment record. The prices of their organic produce is comparable to the prices for the boxes.
In terms of household cost effectiveness, I am not using any travel time or costs, or any time trying to make decisions about what I am going to buy because there is so much choice, and I'm not buying excess food because it's there. With the boxes, I'm more conscious about using every scrap of food, so there's very little waste and trimmings go in the compost.
Overall, although the ticket price might be higher (although even that is debatable for comparable items), I would say it is cost effective for the average person.
Worth the wait, I thank you for your response. It was super through, and you provided me in information I was looking for! Do you get input into WHAT comes in your box? Or is it all decided by the producer?
I have heard similarly from others using similar programs, that the waste is much less. But there's an elderly couple in my church that said they get some vegetables sometimes that aren't useful to them..?