Organic boxes may contain organic vegetable, organic fruit or both. But what’s the point of having a couple of organic oranges delivered when you can buy a carton of organic orange juice at the shops containing the juice of a dozen or so organic fruit?

Organic Fruit

Well, we discovered that drinking fruit juice is not at all the same as eating whole fruit, and that so called fresh ‘not from concentrate’ fruit juice is not what it seems.

First, the worst thing about industrial ‘fresh’ Orange Juice:

Flavour Packs : The Secret Ingredient In Your Orange Juice

That’s right, they are adding back flavour and smell to stored orange juice and they don’t even have to mention anything about it on the label. This is because the things they add back are ‘derived’ from natural oranges. This can’t be right, can it? And don’t even get me started on what they do to apple juice to stop it turning brown.

But it gets worse. Just read what that innocent looking orange juice can do to your health:

And now, the health implications of even the best type of bought orange juice:

In April 2008 a study in the journal Diabetes Care, looked at the diets of 70,000 women as part of the ongoing Nurse’s Health Study, and found that unlike daily consumption of fresh fruit and vegetables, which was associated with an 18 per cent reduction in the risk of diabetes, consumption of fruit juice even in small daily amounts, was associated with an overall 18 per cent increased risk of the disease.

Juice, unlike the whole fruit, contains all the sugars but less of the cofactors found in the whole fruit that help the body metabolise them. This association was strong and independent of other health factors and was higher for those who had a daily glass of orange juice (which raises the risk of diabetes by 24 per cent) than those who had a daily glass of cola or other sweetened soft drink (which raised it by between 6 and 15 per cent).

This was the first study of its kind and such findings are challenging to much that we think we know. For instance orange juice is almost universally hailed as a healthy drink because of its useful levels of antioxidants, but few realise that it contains the same amount of sugar as a glass of cola. If your diet is already high in sugar – like most of those in the Western world, orange juice may simply add to that burden without conferring any real benefit.

…

So is organic orange juice a better option? The answer is yes – and no. Growing organic oranges does not involve the use of pesticides and fertilisers and therefore it may have a lower carbon footprint and lower impact on the environment. However if it comes in a carton or bottle it will have gone through the same industrial process as non-organic juice and is therefore still less nutritious than eating an actual orange or squeezing juice from an organic orange for yourself.

Organic standards of course do not legislate for how the workers are treated. Your organic fruit juice may well still have been picked by an exploited child who should have been in school.

If you absolutely need orange juice, then squeezing it fresh at home from an organic fruit may be your healthiest and most environmentally friendly option.

– Behind the Label: orange juice

So we should all be buying those expensive juicers and making our own OJ then? Well no, not really. Although freshly squeezed juice is lovely, and better than the processed stuff, juice really isn’t all that good for you in many ways. Juicing allows you to consume far more than you ever would if you were eating whole fruit. When was the last time you sat down & ate 5 or 6 oranges at a sitting? That’s an awful lot of fructose (fruit sugar) for the body to cope with, before we even think about what the acid might be doing to your teeth.

Ironically you might be better with old fashioned home-made lemonade than ‘healthy’ juice. I’ll post my recipe for my Nana’s Home-made Still Lemonade later and I might also include her Lemon Barley Water as a bonus.

Ideally, though, eat your organic fruit as part of a meal and drink water if you want a cold drink. Keep it in a covered jug in the fridge, flavour it with a slice of lemon or lime and a sprig of mint. Serve it in pretty glass with ice and it will feel like a treat.

In 2009 we posted 16 blog posts on the Organic boxes blog, and munched our way through about 47 organic boxes ourselves, as well as three half cases of red wine, some bread and eggs.

In 2010 we hope to continue expanding the world of organic vegetable box delivery schemes.

Canceling Your Organic Box for the Holidays

Most organic box schemes have quite straight forward ways of canceling your box for short periods.

Riverford

• You can cancel up to 4 orders in a row online through ‘my future orders’ on the web site or by contacting your local distributor.

• If you are going away for more than 4 weeks, you can either remove your regular order via the ‘my regular order’ page or contact your local distributor with the dates that you will not need deliveries. Make sure you also remove any one off orders you may have made from the ‘my future orders’ page.

• Please remember that we need two working days notice before your delivery day to amend or cancel orders. You will need to phone or email your local distributor by 5pm, or by 8pm if you go online to make the changes.

Abel and Cole

• Log in and go to My Account.
• Click on the ‘my holidays’ section.
• Enter all the dates when you don’t want a delivery – you might not want one the day before you go away, so you’ll need to include this date.
• To add dates simply click on the calendar that appears.

Farmaround

• Give them a minimum of 2 working days notice
• They will suspend deliveries for any length of time that’s convenient for you.
• You can do this using their ‘suspend order form’ on the web site or contact them by phone (If you do the latter, please remember to state the date that you want your last order to arrive and the date that you want to resume your deliveries.)

Eating Organic on Holiday in the UK

Here’s an invaluable resource for anyone who wants to make sure they eat just as healthily on holiday as they do the rest of the year.

Organic Places to Stay UK and Ireland

“This book will be an invaluable travelling companion.” – Craig Sams, Vice Chairman of the Soil Association and Founder of Green & Black’s

“Linda Moss’ wonderfully well researched and informative book will provide you with all the information you need to plan your break.” – Guy Watson Organic Farmer, Founder of Riverford Organic Vegetables

“With more and more people choosing a low carbon footprint holiday, Linda’s book is the must have guide for superb accommodation and tasty nutritious food.” – Peter Shield, Editor of Natural Choices

“A well researched guide that is a good starting point for planning a green holiday or just a weekend away. Every Household should have one.” – Laura Sevier, The Ecologist

It looks invaluable and ideal for popping in the glove compartment for trips and even days out. It doesn’t just cover organic B&Bs and hotels but also lots of places where you can eat organically or buy organic supplies in your chosen area.

You can buy it on Amazon here: Organic Places to Stay UK and Ireland

The controversy has been raised: is it better to keep the bunched carrots with the green feathery top foliage intact or cut them off?

I think the greens help to transpose moisture away from the carrot roots so they dry out more quickly but Linda thinks keeping the greens on will mean they last longer. Probably we’ll eat them with a couple of days anyway but it’s important to know what is really the best way to keep these special vegetables in tip top condition for even a short time.

What do you think is best and what do you do with bunched carrots from your organic vegetable boxes?

My organic box comes full of lovely, fresh organic vegetables but often I’m out when it arrives.
The front of my house gets the afternoon sun and this is bad news for my veggies! Even if I had a fairly shady spot on those sultry hot London days we sometimes get I could still have a problem.
Riverford have done some interesting work on the problem and spent a considerable amount of time last year experimenting with solutions. They even got Exeter Uni involved to see what percentage of the year temperatures might be a problem for the shelf life of the various vegetables.

How Do You Keep Your Organic Box Cool?

Riverford have come up with a couple of interesting solutions. They tried all sorts of methods but the two best (short of having a hole in the ground to pop the box in!) were using an ‘eco-cool blanket’ or building a rather charming cold store cupboard/planter.

The Eco Cool Blanket

This is a wonderfully hitech solution. You buy a purpose made cover which keeps your organic boxes up to 5°C cooler and keeps the box dry if the problem is summer rain rather than blazing sunshine.
You pop the blanket inside your previous week’s box which you are returning and your delivery driver covers your new box with it.
The eco-cool blanket is elasticated,fits even the largest box, looks very much like the sort of thing people wrap themselves in at the end of the marathon and costs £4.25

Eco-Cool Food Safe

This is a much more attractive solution but costs quite a lot more. Riverford says:

a wooden safe that encases your veg box in a layer of compost and soil, ensuring that any produce put inside stays up to 10 degrees cooler than if just left on a doorstep.

Not only that but it looks really attractive once it’s filled with plants:

How does it work?
1. The safe has a high thermal capacity and captures the cool of the night to preserve your veg through the day
2. Water evaporating from it gives an extra cooling effect, like putting a damp towel over a barrel of beer
3. When filled with soil and compost and locked, it’s so heavy that no-one can make off with your veg box while you’re out

The Eco-Cool Food Safe comes in 3 sizes, is delivered in a flat pack and costs between £69 and £74.

Low Tech Solutions to Hot Organic Boxes

Much though I like the Eco-Cool Food Safe I’m an old hippy at heart and that food safe looks pretty easy to copy. What I’m thinking is two wine crates for the sides and a wooden shelf for the top. Pop a window box planter (wooden) on top, fill with soil and plants. An old cupboard door could be added and the whole lot painted with a chalky mix of emulsion and water to give a shabby chic white or maybe a chippy pale blue. (This might just be my Shabby Chic obsession talking!) Stand it against a wall, ideally  somewhere that gets a bit of shade and your organic boxes are going to stay nice and cool on the hottest day (or dry when it does the other thing!)

It would be a little taller than the smallest bought one but that should make it easier to get your organic boxes out again.

The opposite happened to me though. I thought I’d been efficient and cancelled my regular vegetable box for the week I was away recently, and when I got back the next week’s box of vegetables arrived exactly when it was suppose to, but the week after that I was left without. So make sure you understand the difference between a future order and a recurring order before you cancel organic boxes.

Supermarkets now sell more than 70 per cent of organic produce in the UK — but, having done well in the organic boom, they are now bearing the brunt of the decline. According to Soil Association surveys, it is “barcode” sales of organic that are falling. Farmers’ markets, farm shops and box schemes are still all doing OK.

Special Christmas Organic Boxes

Abel and Cole do special Christmas Day organic boxes. These have all the vegetables you need for up to 6 people for the big day itself and should be ordered in addition to your normal vegetable box.

You can also order your turkey or goose and various other joints of meat and all the trimmings to be delivered in time for the big day. You can even get a side of organic salmon – yum! The meat and fish come in special cool boxes with ice packs. The contents are guaranteed to keep fresh uncooked till Boxing Day if popped in a fridge. You can also freeze stuff if you need to keep it a bit longer.

Then of course there are all the extras, like organic Christmas puddings, mince pies, there’s even a gluten free Christmas cake from the Village Bakery at Melmerby (I’ve had one of those before and they are yummy!)

Abel and Cole also do a special Christmas wine case. This gives you six bottles which are good selection of organic wines specially chosen to compliment traditional Christmas food.

Dates for ordering organic boxes

Ordering early is a great idea. If you know you are going to want an organic Christmas it is much easier to sort it out as soon as you can.

Abel and Cole are accepting Christmas orders already and their site warns that there might be limited supplies of some things. This means it is even more important to get your order in soon. They say:

The final day for placing, amending and canceling Christmas orders is approximately 17th December

Take the stress out of Christmas – order it online!

I think using an organic boxes delivery scheme in this way is ideal for taking the stress out of the Christmas preparations. I still cringe at the horrors of trying to find organic food in the supermarkets in the holiday season. It’s not easy at the best of times but somehow everyone is so stressed the supermarkets become nightmarish places, with limited supplies and mile long queues.

How much stress would it save you to find the whole lot delivered to your door? No danger of forgetting the sprouts, or some other vital ingredient.

Bliss- Christmas just lands on your doorstep like your normal organic boxes!

What’s in season over the early winter months ?

organic boxes

Here’s what you can expect to find in your organic boxes in the early winter.

A list of what could be the ingredients for the world’s greatest stew!

Organic Vegetables from the boxes

Romanesco and white cauliflower,

red, green and savoy cabbage,

purple, white and orange carrots,

leeks,

Ramiro Pepper

red and white onions

pumpkins,

squash,

beetroot,

brussel sprouts

celery

celeriac

turnips

parsnips

curly black and Russian kale,

Isle of Jura, Orla and other main crop potatoes

sweet potato

flat leaf parsley and other hardier herbs

Organic Fruit from the Boxes

Apples

You might already have more apples than you can deal with coming from the garden anyway, in which case why not find out how to make cider ?

Pears

Oranges (just coming in)

Fair trade bananas

So there you are – these are the sorts of things you might expect to find in your organic boxes of fruit and vegetables over the next couple of months.

You might be put off the idea of organic boxes because you are not sure what exactly to do with some of the lovely vegetables, beyond the obvious. Let’s be honest, there’s a limit to how often any family wants to eat corn on the cob. So, what to do when the sweet-corn builds up in the veg rack? Easy, just get creative! There are lots of great recipes for sweet-corn on line – this is just one of them.

Sweet-corn Fritters

These are seriously yummy – serve them on top of a green salad (half a bag of salad leaves, cucumber, and chopped green pepper.) or hide a bit of grilled bacon between 2 of them for a great brunch. You can add some chopped green or red pepper to the mix as well if you like. See below for a more grown-up suggestion!

I’m going into cups now but you don’t need to be too precise. These are tea cups not big mugs.

• 1 cup of plain flour.
• 2 cups of organic sweet-corn kernels (4-6 cobs)
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 cup of milk, soya milk is a possible alternative.
• 1 tablespoon baking powder.
• A pinch of paprika (enough to cover the handle end of a teaspoon)
• 1/2 cup of sliced spring onions or shallots.
• Parsley or your choice of mild herbs chopped,
• vegetable frying oil.

Method:

1. Cook the organic sweetcorn cobs gently in boiling water for 10 mins. Allow to cool. Now strip the kernels off by running a knife down the cob. Turn and repeat all the way round. Put to one side.
2. Sift flour, baking powder and seasonings into large bowl
3. Make a well in the centre.
4. Beat together the eggs and milk in a medium sized bowl
5. Gradually add to the dry ingredients and mix well to make a lump free batter which can be quite stiff
6. Add the corn, onion, and chopped herbs and mix. Don’t hang about at this stage.
7. Heat a couple of tablespoons of the oil in a frying pan until hot but not smoking.
8. Drop a tablespoon of batter into the pan. You should get about four blobs into the pan at a time.
9. Cook until you see bubbles appearing and popping on the surface.
10. Turn and cook for another couple of minutes till both sides are golden brown.
11. Do the same with the rest of the mixture – keep the ones you’ve done warm under a low grill or in a low oven.

Serve on a yummy green salad or on top of wilted spinach or other greens.

OK – that’s the family friendly version

I prefer to add a couple of chopped green chillies to the batter and serve it with a spicy tomato salsa, and maybe some cucumber raita to cool things down. Serve with some good bread and more of the salad leaves.

Problem Items in Organic Boxes

So what’s your problem veg? What builds up in your vegetable boxes? Leave a comment and we’ll try to come up with some enticing recipes to make sure you use and enjoy every last leaf of your organic vegetable boxes!