Organic Express

[Maison Rustique]

Has anyone tried or heard anything about these folks?

I got a flyer from them in the mail today. The prices don't seem that much different from Henry's Marketplace or the regular supermarkets. I'm thinking of giving them a try but thought I'd see if anyone here had tried them.

[marie-louise]

I haven't heard of them, but they seem very similar to Planet Organics, which I used for a while. The plus is that they have more variety than a CSA box could have, but they are middlemen, so you don't have the direct connection to a farm. I have received CSA boxes off and on for years from Full Belly Farms, and I really like the idea that in some small way, my support keeps a California farm in business. Now that I'm not going out of town most weekends, I simply go to one of the farmer's market, which is the best of all-variety plus a connection with the farmers.

The quality of the produce at Planet Organics was very good; not as good as Full Belly Farms, but equal or better than most markets. There IS a certain appeal about having it delivered to your door; you have no choice but to eat healthy food if you know another bulging box is coming again next week. BTW-Planet Organics had this deal where you could give back any produce you didn't eat simply by leaving it in the delivery box, and they would deliver it to a food bank for you. So, you didn't have to feel like you were wasting food if you didn't finish everything.

[tanabutler]

Well, they aren't listed at LocalHarvest.org, but maybe they just don't know about it. Are they CSA, or just middlemen?

Like Marie-Louise, I'd support the farms directly, especially since organic laws are changing to support big business.

[Maison Rustique]

I'm not clear on how I can support the farms directly. We have some "farmers markets" around here. The ones in my area are not on days/times that I can go to them and make reasonable purchases. For example the one in my city is on Friday afternoon. I work during the hours it's open. There is another that is actually closer, but it is on Sundays. I do the bulk of my cooking Wednesday thru Saturday. That means I'd be dealing with old produce. Organic Express delivers in my area on Thursday. And I can get some grocery items from them, too. It just seems to work out better for me timewise.

They do say that 90% of it is produced in California. Is that bad? I'm happy to ask them questions about the farms that supply them, etc. What should I ask? Clearly you all are in areas that know more about this. In my area we no longer have "local" farms. We just have concrete and buildings. Ther are still a couple of small farms that grow strawberries and corn, but not much more than that. I loved it when I could walk across the street in San Juan Capistrano and buy from the farm directly. Unfortunately the land was sold (it's now a community center) and we moved out of the area.

[marie-louise]

Here's a link to a web site about Community Supported Agriculture (CSA.) You can search by your zipcode to see what's available. Good luck!

[Maison Rustique]

Thanks! I've emailed the Tierra Miguel Foundation to see if they serve my area--none of the others do.