I'm not sure we can afford it :(

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Milims
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I'm not sure we can afford it :(

Post: # 116727Post Milims »

We received our first organic food box the other day. It was really exciting and the food looked really lovely, fresh and tasty. There was a chunk of lamb, (£20ish for 1.5 kg) some mince, a litre of milk, a small loaf, 1/2 doz eggs, a small cabbage, small cauli, bunch spring onions, bunch carrots (about 8), a kohlrabi, 4 apples and1/2 dozen clementines (or satsumas I never know the difference!). It cost £39.95. The problem is we've just eaten most of it in one sitting - we aren't greedy it's just that there are 5 of us - a 6ft bloke, a 6ft 1 and growing teenogre, 2 growing almost teens and me. The milk will probably do breakfast tomorrow, the bread will go in 1 sitting between the big ones, and the fruit will go in no time. Although the food was really very tasty and the lack of chemicals are a health bonus I'm really not sure it's financially viable for us. The food came from a local company - but there doesn't seem to be another in the area and I'm not sure that the ethical superstore will deliver to this area. I guess we can cut out the meat - we don't eat that much anyway and we don't need the eggs, but after that the only option is a 16 mile round trip to the supermarket to see what they can offer.
Does this seem like a reasonable price for what was in the box? Can anyone offer any alternatives? We do grow some of our own, we have chickens for eggs and I do make bread - but we need to buy the rest from somewhere and I was hoping to be able to support local business as well as doing the healthy organic thing! :cry:
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Re: I'm not sure we can afford it :(

Post: # 116730Post hamster »

Given that it included meat, milk and bread and organic versions of these things are generally pretty expensive, £39.95 doesn't sound that unreasonable - and if the meat was worth £20, then £20 sounds about what I would expect to pay for a veg box plus bread, eggs and milk.

But I agree that it's quite pricey to eat that all week, every week, though and don't blame you for not being prepared to! Do you have the freezer space to buy meat in bulk? That's been the single most effective way we've found of eating good, local, mostly organic produce, because we save so much by buying a side of lamb or pork in one go that we can then afford to spend more on veg and other things. (I take an anarchic pleasure in going to http://www.mysupermarket.co.uk and adding up what it would have cost in the supermarkets and cackling when we've saved £££. And actually, recently, even the veg has been very competitive in comparison.)
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Re: I'm not sure we can afford it :(

Post: # 116738Post Ratty »

We have an organic veg box (Veg Extreme, appparently) once a fortnight and it does us two adults & one toddler (plus assorted animals who help out with salad leaves and peelings ...) well for £15. I think its all about making the meat stretch to longer than one meal? Back in the old "make do & mend" times when meat wasn't the bulk of the meal I guess?

Have you looked on http://www.bigbarn.co.uk/ for a more local box delivery scheme?

Good on you for ordering one. Perhaps you can "tweak" the contents and make it work out for you?
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Re: I'm not sure we can afford it :(

Post: # 116746Post contadino »

How does the box scheme operate? It sounds like it's not sized to suit your family, and the lamb has knocked the price up too much for you.

I operate a veg box scheme, but wouldn't supply fresh meat. The list of veg you mention would be a little short of what would go in a box for 2 people, so it's no surprise it has failed to feed 5 of you for a week. My boxes for 2 people sell for €10, and for 4 people, €15. With the eggs, milk and bread you could stick maybe a bit less than €5 on top (they're optional extras.)

Maybe it's worth contacting the scheme operator and seeing if you can alter the box content..?

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Milims
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Re: I'm not sure we can afford it :(

Post: # 116812Post Milims »

We decided to opt for the full box for the first time to see what was in it, the standard of it and check out the value for money. As I said, the standard of it was very good, the veg was clearly fresh (the caterpillar poo was still wet! :lol: ) the oranges were delicious as were the apples. I think I was rather disappointed at the bread - it was a white loaf and very small, and I think that it was the meat that really bumped up the price, although it was very tasty. The lamb was from a leg so had bones in it - so upping the weight with non meat (although the cat loved to gnaw at the bone!) and once boned it wasn't all that big - literally 2 slices each for the boys and 1 each for me and the younger ones - not that we wanted more but £20 of meat at one sitting is a bit pricey! That said, red meat isn't a regular visitor at our table so it's something that we could easily cut out frequently. I think one of my main concerns is how much to pay per pound of veg etc - they charge £2.95 for 1.2 kg of carrots and the same for 1.5kg mixed root veg, it this about the usual price? In the boxes they don't seem to state weights, just that there are a numbered variety. We can choose what we have delivered tho, so maybe that's the route to take.
The thing is, as this is my first time I'm not overly sure how much things should cost and if this is the cost I'm concerned about being able to afford it (although it is really important to us to try to). There doesn't seem to be any competition round here so if I want it it's what I have to pay.

Ratty I just checked out the site you mention - it looks like there is only the one box delivery scheme in the entire area - and it's this one! Even so it isn't actually down there as a box delivery scheme - only a farm shop! It seems to be the trouble with this place - the farmers market is once a month (and it's pathetic) and most other places only sell the kind of goodies that tourists want to buy at vastly inflated prices! Why can't we just have some basic good food at reasonable prices that's organic and fairly locally produced instead of over priced jam and ice cream?? Ggrrrrr! Anyone want to come and live in whats apparently one of the most desirable places in the country? :roll:
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Re: I'm not sure we can afford it :(

Post: # 116819Post hamster »

I've sometimes found stuff on these websites that isn't listed on bigbarn.

http://www.farmshopping.net/
http://www.vegbox-recipes.com/ (click links to 'find a box scheme')

My mum seemed to think somewhere in Morpeth had a veg box scheme, though you might have had to pick it up rather than get it delivered. Don't know how convenient that would be for you, but I can ask her for details if you like.

For comparative purposes, we normally get 8 or 9 'things' in our £10 veg box (not done by weight), which is usually just about right for the two of us. http://www.eatorganic.co.uk/default.asp?id=115&ver=1 is what's on offer this week.
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Re: I'm not sure we can afford it :(

Post: # 116827Post Milims »

Thank you for that Hamster - I looked up the vegbox recipes site, and found what looked to be a really good place just north of here, contacted them - and they don't deliver in this area! :cry: This is so damned frustrating! I looked up our local farmers market - only a rating of 20% - not that I'm surprised it only sells fancy jam and other touristy stuff. It seems that we live in some kind of no-mans land where a trip to the supermarket is the only viable choice! :cry:
Let us be lovely
And let us be kind
Let us be silly and free
It won't make us famous
It won't make us rich
But damn it how happy we'll be!
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Member of the Ish Weight Loss Club since 10/1/11 Started at 12st 8 and have lost 8lb so far!

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Re: I'm not sure we can afford it :(

Post: # 116832Post old tree man »

HI milims,
been reading this thread with interest, we live in the redcar area and if i have any problems i usually pop along to the larchfield community at hemlington or botton community especially for our meat, not sure what area you are in but they might have a camphill trust community near you if you google camphill trust it may help, good luck

Russ :flower:
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Re: I'm not sure we can afford it :(

Post: # 116878Post marshlander »

I've been watching this thread with interest too.

We buy very little meat and that is local/organic. Thank goodness our twice monthly farmers market in Louth is a good one so we can get bacon and cheese. We even get organic flour from the market's bread man if i've not been passing one of the windmills or had a suma delivery before hand. About once a month we go to Horncastle to stock up with sausages. We have been able to grow a lot of our fruit and veg and swap with several friends with smallholdings nearby.

We always have to buy spuds which we get from the local farmshop, plus mushrooms and tomatoes (the latter when we haven't our own) co-op mostly but you know who, too I'm afraid :oops: . We also buy some squash eg butternut if ours run out and sweet pots though I'm growing these again this year.

http://www.goodnessdirect.co.uk/cgi-loc ... /home.html is another link you can try - if only because each item is priced. Organic carrots were £1.29 for 500g which works out about the same as those you bought. That's about £10 quids worth I've just frozen then! :shock:

You'll have to tell your carnivores that a meat eater on a bicycle has a bigger carbon foorprint that a veggie driving a Hummer!
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Re: I'm not sure we can afford it :(

Post: # 116879Post marshlander »

I've been looking up more prices. Woodland Farm is one of our local organic box producers and they also sell organic meat boxes. They sell 10 Kg Lincoln Red beef at £9 per kilo and 1/4 Lincolnshire Longwool lamb at £6 per kilo - that's cheaper than t£$c@! And its local!

By comparison, your people seem a bit expensive. Do you know anyone or could you advertise for someone else who would like deliveries in your area. Then perhaps the new people you have found might think it worth their while.
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Re: I'm not sure we can afford it :(

Post: # 116905Post Berti »

gosh.......good for you milims to try a box scheme, hope you find a way that works for you to keep going. eating organic gives you so much more to feed on than just what you stuff in your mouth :)
also, it would be good to get a scheme that delivers enough for five (with two big eaters, sounds like) for a more reasonable price.

but I was completely shocked at the prices over there in UK.
wonder why the prices there are so high?

for a box scheme over here, you pay 7,50 euros a week for fruit and veg for two.
with that I order milk, yoghurt, and pay no more than 12 euros a week.
if I choose to direct order from a company that deals with other farmers produce to sell, I can get everything in one box (no bread over here) and costs me 15 a week or a bit more, depending what I order.
from the latter I can order meat in, which is 25 a month for two people with extras to spare (freeze meals and eat twice)

cheers
berti

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Re: I'm not sure we can afford it :(

Post: # 116934Post contadino »

Another thought crossed my mind. If you know other families who'd want a box, you may want to talk to a box provider a little further afield. I'd be happy to deliver a little further outside my coverage area if it was, say 5 boxes at a time. Northern England would be a little too far for me, though. :lol:

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Re: I'm not sure we can afford it :(

Post: # 116938Post hedgewitch »

I second the link for Goodness Direct.
I use them time and time again, though not for fresh produce.
But they are an excellent company and the customer support is superb.
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Re: I'm not sure we can afford it :(

Post: # 116962Post barefootlinzi »

have you tried riverford? probably not on big barn but they have several farms across the uk and cover a wide area. we have had them for a while, and love them. they also do meat and extras. have alook at www.riverford.co.uk, put your postcode in and see if they deliver to you
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Re: I'm not sure we can afford it :(

Post: # 116964Post barefootlinzi »

look here http://www.rivernene.co.uk/find/index.p ... b013d3581b

shows the area they cover
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