Farm Fresh to You

 

This is the box that started it all.  Changed my life.  Brought creativity as well as increased healthiness into my cooking.  I have always been a healthy individual.  I love eating fruits and vegetables, that was never a problem.  But the more I read and see in television and films, the more concerned I have become of our food sources.  And organic produce is expensive and harder to find at every grocery store.  And is it truly different?  

When I heard about this box, I was intrigued.  I detest chain grocery stores [Whole Foods and Trader Joe's aside], mostly because I only shop on the outer perimeter where produce, meats (even those I question) and wine can be found.  The inner aisles are filled with crap.  Cans and boxes and packages filled in artificial ingredients, preservatives, high fructose corn syrup and trans fats.  What is the need for all those additional ingredients?  It surely is not beneficial to the consumer; look our obesity epidemic.  So it must benefit the producers.  Nabisco and Kraft and the like.  If their products can last longer, they can squeeze out every last dime.  And you can't blame them, they are businesses where profit is the bottom line.   But we the consumers don't have to buy them. 

The box has so many beautiful things about it.  Where should I start?  First of all is comes to my doorstep without fail, every week.  The produce is a freshly harvested mix of fruits and vegetables that are IN SEASON and locally harvested.  This is my favorite part because the taste is so much better when a piece of produce is in season - it hasn't been picked too early, transported from halfway around the world, or artificially colored to appear ripe, like in the stores.  Yes, this produce tends to expire faster, that's because it's preservative-free!  It simply leads me to take action and incorporate fruits and veggies into all of our meals.  I enjoy the newsletter and recipes that the farmers included for a personal touch (the recipes are really fantastic!).  I also think the price, $30, is right for the amount of produce, and the fact that I don't have to go out and get it :)

What I have experienced by using Farm Fresh to You is an increase in efficiency AND creativity.  I now make fewer trips to the grocery store and pick up compliments to the produce, which has become center stage in our eating.  Our monthly grocery bill has decreased because I am buying less from the stores - the box literally feeds us all week.  Due to this, I can spend more money on better cuts of meat and more organic products.  A win-win situation.  And I have an Iron Chef-like feeling come over me as I unpack the the box's contents.  What will I make?  How will my cuisine reign supreme?  It's already nutritious, but it's also gotta be delicious.  And that leads me here.....the contents of this blog reflect the new things I am learning about produce, the foods I've never tried before, and the results.