Don’t have time to trek to a farmer’s market? Home delivery is a wonderfully convenient alternative.
Nowadays there is a range of companies that deliver not only fresh fruit and vegetables but also meats, bread, even freshly cooked ready meals right to your doorstep. So if you want to shop ethically but time is limited we have your solution.
Vegetable box schemes are generally the more well known, with nearly as many delivery schemes as farmers' markets in the UK. Such schemes are usually operated by the grower or a small co-operative, although some have now grown to be able to offer a national service. Produce is sourced locally, keeping unnecessary packaging, storage and transportation to a minimum, and most is farmed organically. So you can be happy that you’re not adding much to your carbon footprint.
We’ve done the legwork for you and found a few of the best!
Keith Abel founded Abel & Cole over 20 years ago and has been delivering super fresh boxes of organic fruit and vegetables to happy households since then. But also now deliver a whole range of other foods, drinks and household products, all ethically produced and sourced. They only work with “downright brilliant farmers” and have strong principles including only sourcing seasonal food and support British farming, keep packaging to a minimum, never using air freight, passionate about animal welfare, and providing exceptional service. Abel & Cole believe eating with the seasons is the healthy, affordable and great fun option.
They also write a weekly newsletter (click here for an example) support a whole range of initiatives and campaigns like Brain Food and Farmer’s Choice, see their website for more information.
RIVERFORD ORGANIC VEG (click for site)
The box scheme began when Guy Watson started delivering vegetables locally to 30 friends in Devon. They now deliver around 47,000 boxes a week to homes around the UK from 5 regional sister farms, and have won many awards including the 2011 Observer Ethical Best Online Retailer.
THE WELL HUNG MEAT COMPANY (click for site)
With the number of local butchers far less than a decade ago, meat boxes are a great alternative. We’ve done the leg work for you here and found the best company around, www.wellhungmeat.com
You’ll always have brilliant meat, value for money, you have a huge choice, it’s fresh, very chilled and not frozen, packed with care and they have won the most awards around!
"The well hung meat sirloin steaks are packed with beefy heft and lip-smacking flavour, they had real character, rich with a touch of sweetness. Aberdeen Angus, grass fed and hung, was steak as it should taste." Tom Parker Bowles.
As an LSFit member too you will jump straight to being a Well Hung Meat club member, without needing to order six consecutive boxes.
We are also working with them on a range of other benefits, including other, slightly more unusual Christmas Day dining.
Well Hung Meat are also passionate about ‘Love food Hate Waste’. As a nation we throw away 8.3 million tonnes of food every year (www.lovefoodhatewaste.com), most of which could have been eaten.
Here are their six top tips to save time and money and make the most of the food you buy, and cut down on waste while you're at it.
1. Plan your meals - create a weekly meal plan and base your shopping list on this, meaning you only buy the food you need. You can easily plan ahead by having organic meat delivered to your doorstep with our monthly meat boxes from just £15 a week.
2. Keep your leftovers for later - after a roast dinner, slice up the leftover meat and freeze to use later in a curry or casserole. You can also freeze any leftover vegetables in portions for a quick and easy meal.
3. Make your own stock and gravy - it is amazing how far one whole chicken can go. After your roast, boil up the carcass with some onion, celery and peppercorns to make a tasty stock. Use with any leftover chicken to make a delicious homemade risotto.
4. Portion control - use a portion planner to cook the perfect amount for the amount of people you are serving. Love Food Hate Waste provides an easy to use portion calculator - www.lovefoodhatewaste.com/perfect_portions
5. Make the most of leftovers - cut down on waste and save money by creating exciting and delicious dishes from your leftovers.
6. Save time and money - with our brand new family monthly meat boxes, conveniently delivered to your doorstep every month.
For other resources on box delivery companies see www.organicfinder.co.uk
