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

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!

Organic boxes can actually save you money as well as save the planet, according to the Manchester Evening News. A recent article suggests that many people are cutting back on buying organic in supermarkets and are looking round for cheaper solutions.

Organic Boxes – 5 ways they save you money

Organic boxes are one way of continuing to eat well whilst still saving a few pounds.

1. You still get healthy organic produce but don’t pay a hefty supermarket premium.
2. Produce is often locally sourced so uses few food miles. Who do you think pays for all those transportation costs?
3. It’s usually fresher than anything you find in the supermarkets and so it keeps better, meaning less waste at the end of the week.
4. Your box will be full of seasonal produce which will still have its maximum nutritional value – more vitamins for your money.
5. There are no nasty surprises at the checkout. Your bill is the same from week to week so it’s easier to plan your spending.

Abel and Cole – “hundreds of new customers every week”

Ella Heeks from Abel and Cole, one of the major delivery services for organic boxes says that although some people are feeling the pinch many are still making organic food a priority

“A lot of people are feeling the pinch financially and it’s definitely a challenge for businesses at the moment, but we’re still welcoming hundreds of new customers every week”

Ella thinks this is because people are returning to home cooking and re-learning the art of planning a week’s meals for the family rather than relying on expensive takeaways and cook chill meals.

So if you want an affordable treat that helps to keep your family healthy then organic boxes are a great idea.

** Check if Abel & Cole deliver organic boxes in your area **

(photo credit -Wordridden)