The film will be shown around the country and The Soil Association  are looking for volunteers to hand out information and membership leaflets. You can find out the dates and book on the official Food Inc. site

The film is promoting 10 Things You Can Do to Change Our Food System but it’s very US orientated so I thought I’d do us a UK version:

10 Things You Can Do to Change Our Food System

1. Drink fewer sweetened fizzy drinks and cut down sugar in tea & coffee
   
2. Eating in is the new going out
3. Support moves to force fast food outlets to publish calorie and fat content information on menues
4. Get soft drinks machines removed from local schools
5. Meatless Mondays – go without meat for just 1 day a week
6. Buy organic where possible, when not possible go for sustainable local food
7. Protect family farms. Find your local Farmers Market and use it. Buy organic boxes direct from farms.
8. Make a point of knowing where your food comes from. READ THE LABELS!
9. Tell the government that food safety matters to you – join the Soil Association and support their campaigns.
10. Demand job protection for farm workers and food processors, including improved protection when using pesticides and other chemicals, and decent wages.
    

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!

“Well, they are. In Sainsburys!”

In season now – things you might expect to find in organic boxes in September and October

organic boxes - Autumn vegetables

Autumn Organic Vegetables in The UK

With most basic organic box schemes you can expect some staples, (usually carrots, onions and potatoes) plus some more interesting seasonal vegetables. Most companies offer a variety of organic boxes to suit different needs. Some, like Abel & Cole, let you specify anything you don’t want included or add extras.

• Aubergine
• Beetroot – not just for putting in vinegar! Recipes soon.
• Broccoli – the big green one not the purple sprouting Spring kind
• Cabbage – Several kinds :green pointed, not so hearty as later cabbage, first of the red cabbage, small round green ones just starting to appear.
• Carrots
• Cauliflower – just starting to appear.
• Celery
• Courgettes – larger than August, more like small marrows
• Kale – this is a winter staple but might be just starting to appear.
• Leeks – big thick ones are now in season. Think hearty soups like leek and potato.
• Potatoes – main crop varieties like Cosmos
• Peppers – mostly red now
• Spinach
• Sweet corn – modern varieties ripen well in the UK, peak season end of September/early October
• Sweet potatoes – great alternative to ordinary potatoes
• Squashes – mostly butternut but pumpkins and marrows later.
• Swiss Chard
• Tomatoes – big fat ripe ones for cooking, still some cherry ones too.
• White Onions – not so strong as later but moist and crunchy

Autumn Fruit in the UK – things you might expect in organic boxes in October

Not all organic boxes include fruit but it can be a good way of making sure there is fresh fruit available to your family every week without fail.

• Apples – just starting to come in, gorgeous fresh, early English apples. Often small just now but full of flavour.
• Pears – English varieties, not just Conference but other more interesting ones. Hard when they arrive a few days in the fruit bowl and they’ll be delicious. Or you could always make Pears in Red Wine (I’ll add a recipe section soon!)
• Plums – if you are lucky the tail end of the English plums might still be around. Yum!

A few imported extras you might find in your organic boxes in October

People running organic box schemes are mostly realists and they know that families sometimes want things out of season. You can expect that despite being imported these extras will still be fresh, organic and will not have been air freighted.

• Bananas – OK, so these are imported but most families want them! Getting organic ones delivered is a real bonus.
• Grapes – these are seasonal, and in season right now, even if brought over from Spain. Enjoy!
• Oranges – not really at their best yet but still welcome.

Next Month – What to Expect in Winter Organic Boxes

This will list some of the vegetables and fruits you might find in organic boxes in the next few months.