TO VEG BOX OR NOT TO VEG BOX...

About five years ago, at the very beginning of the trend, we ordered our first organic home delivered veg-box. We have always been massive advocates of the idea, knowing that we eat better and more healthily when we have the box.

THIS WEEK"S VEG BOX

However it's not always been an easy ride. We've dropped out of the scheme on several occasions due to a feeling that it's not always the best value for money. Especially in times of tightening budgets, the veg-box sometimes didn't feel that it was packing its punch, especially when we have a fabulous Farmers' Market in Twickenham.
Several weeks ago, Abel and Cole rang me up, tempting me to get back on board. With the promise of a free bottle of wine and a cook-book how could I refuse. So we have been getting the box for the last four weeks now and I have to say it's reminded me about all the wonderful things about the scheme.

PROS:

• Excitement about having a 'surprise' parcel on a Thursday full of lovely food
• Forces creativity in the kitchen
• Makes you more aware of waste and how to avoid it
• Eat far more veg
• Ease - I don't drive and it saves lugging heavy veg from town
• Home Delivery - Can avoid the supermarket and all the impulse purchases that go with it. 
• Ethical approach - organic and low travel miles means we're doing a little bit for the environment. 
• Fair Deal for the farmers. 
• You can spoil your surprise and check your box contents - listing your preferences so you don't end up with veg you hate. (We don't bother b/c there isn't anything we don't like)

CONS:

• Expensive - well this is my perception. I'm going to conduct some more thorough research into this.
• Messy - A lot of the veg is muddier *gasp/horror* 
• Storing the empty boxes. Despite collapsing down, I seem to have a box issue (this is probably just me)
• Seasonality - You're dependent on the whim of the harvest / weather and this seems to impact greatly on the contents of the box meaning for several weeks at a time the box doesn't really contain 'enough' to feed as many as it should - it's difficult to provide meals from the veg provided and yet it's the same cost. This is especially the case in early summer. 

We order the family (4+) box at £18.50. Since returning to the scheme we have been happy, although there are still some bug bears. One week we only got 2 courgettes, another 2 sweetcorn and this week we have only been given 2 flat mushrooms. If the box is meant to be for a family of 4, some very nasty squabbles could erupt when there are only 2 of an item! I mean if I want to stuff those mushrooms - what are the other two members of our family meant to do as we are tucking into them?

It's also a little strange that one week we got 2x red peppers to count as one of our veg and this week we have got only 1. So as you can see the boxes can be a little erratic.

PRICE COMPARISON

ITEM	WEIGHT	ASDA	TESCO	SAINSBURYS	WAITROSE OCADO
Broccoli	600g	2.40	2.80	1.99	2.38
Cucumber	each	1.25	1.25	1.25	1.30
Carrots	500g	0.67	1.24	0.76	0.89
Leeks	700g	2.34	3.29	3.50	3.49
New Potatoes	1kg	1.47	1.16	1.73	3.38
Flat mushrooms	175g	n/a 0.70	1.00	1.11	0.85
Red lettuce	Each	1.00	1.20	1.50	1.40
Red Pepper	Each	0.93	0.88	0.93	1.90
Savoy Cabbage	Each	1.27	1.30	1.40	1.19
Tomatoes	600g	1.80	1.75	2.00	1.37
Turnips	600g	n/a 0.74	n/a 1.50	n/a 1.20	1.15
Onions	400g	0.97	0.50	1.00	0.60
TOTAL 18.50		15.54 -2.96	18.47 -0.03	18.37 -0.13	19.90 +1.40

Expect to see this table once a week for the next three months and then we can come to some evidenced conclusions about the value of the box scheme.

If you are a box scheme member and have any comments about your own experiences then please post a comment.