My Best Organic

We have had a break from Abel and Cole for the last couple of years, but have decided to try it again, particularly as they have a special offer at the moment of ‘buy three boxes, get fourth free’. There’s nothing like free food to tempt us!

We decided that we needed the large box - we are two adults (one with a normal appetite, the other with a massive appetite) and two young children. The box cost £17.75 and delivery was 99p. One of things I do really love about Abel and Cole is their packaging system. You receive your box - no excessive packaging and then you unpack your stuff, store the box for a week then give it back. For those of us who hate waste, it’s a great scheme, as Abel and Cole reuse their boxes.

What did we receive this cold January morning? 2 aubergines, a punnet of mushrooms, a lettuce, a large green pepper, a large head of broccoli, winter greens, fennel, a punnet of tomatoes, 9 potatoes, 5 carrots, a cucumber and 5 onions. So far we have devoured 4 of the carrots, which were incredibly sweet, the broccoli, which was beautifully fresh, some cucumber which was good and the potatoes - which made the most delicious roasts. I’m not sure yet what we’ll do with the fennel.

One of the advantages that Abel and Cole state on their literature, is that of customers being able to exclude produce they do not like. I spent about 15 minutes on their website marking off the veg we don’t eat - you’re allowed 20 ‘dislikes’. Unfortunately, the various types of squash take up a large number of our dislikes, so we’re going to have to put up with receiving some items we don’t usually use. Maybe it’ll be good for us. Maybe we’ll have various veg rotting in the back of the fridge for a while - I’m not sure. I’ll certainly try not to waste anything.

Does this box represent good value for money? I’m honestly not sure yet. The amount of veg does not seem that much considering that it’s supposed to be for 3-5 people for a whole week. I’m certain that five onions will not last more than a few days, and the lack of garlic will need to be remedied by ordering it as a separate item. Now I should start looking up some interesting recipes for aubergines…

We received a lovely big parcel yesterday, full of organic goodies. I was quite excited, as I had ordered a couple of new products. I did, however, feel a little guilty about having goods delivered to our door. What about the packaging? What about the environmental costs of the transportation?

I decided to have a look into the policies of a few well known eco/organic providers.

Abel and Cole are really great in that they collect all packaging from you and state that they reuse it (I even return the string). They also ‘experiment with alternative fuels for their vans’ and do not air freight. I wonder how many times a cardboard box can be reused - particularly as the vegetables are usually (and fantastically!) covered in soil. The reusable crates and ice-packs used for fridge and freezer items are a great idea.

Goodness Direct uses biodegradable or recyclable materials wherever possible, including the use of biodegradable corn chips which disintegrate on contact with moisture. I did an experiment to see if this was true, and they did need a bit of persuasion to disintegrate, but we got there in the end. Even the boxes for chilled and frozen items are 96% biodegradable.

Ethical Superstore use ‘fuel-efficient delivery organisations’ and give customers the opportunity to offset carbon emissions by donating £1.00 per order, which is used on eco-projects. I have also personally seen that their packaging is kept to a minimum and is recyclable.

These web-based businesses also don’t contribute to the issue of plastic bags, and should be more energy-efficient due to not running retail units. OK. My guilt has evaporated…particularly as I reuse all packaging myself too x

This post was submitted by Susannah.