A vegetable box scheme is an operation that delivers fresh fruit and vegetables, often locally grown and organic, either directly to the customer or to a local collection point. Typically the produce is sold as an ongoing weekly subscription and the offering may vary week to week depending on what is in season.

Background

Some of the organic veg box schemes in the UK were created by growers such as

Guy Watson Guy Singh-Watson (born Guy Watson, 1960) is a British farmer and founder and creator of Riverford, an organic farm and UK-wide organic vegetable box delivery company. Biography Singh-Watson was born in Totnes. He was brought up on Riverford Far ...

and

Charles Dowding Charles Dowding is an English horticulturalist and author who has pioneered modern no dig and organic soil management since 1983. Life and work Dowding spent his childhood on a dairy farm in Somerset. He graduated from his degree in geography at ...

. These schemes are usually operated by the grower or a small co-operative. By early 2007, according to the

Soil Association The Soil Association is a British registered charity. The organisation activities include campaigning – against intensive farming, for local purchasing and public education on nutrition – and certification of organic foods. It was establ ...

, retail sales via such schemes were in excess of £100 million per annum. Many schemes are run on a local or regional basis, delivering food direct from the producer to the consumer. Other schemes offer a nationwide delivery, with produce supplied by a network of growers, co-operatives and wholesalers negating the local food affiliation of these schemes. Some British supermarkets have also begun offering vegetable boxes. A box scheme often works by subscription. A customer signs up to a weekly or fortnightly delivery of fresh vegetables and/or fruit. The contents will vary week to week as selected by the box scheme provider on the basis of seasonality and availability. Some schemes offer the option of purchasing extra goods to be delivered along with the vegetable box, such as dairy produce and meat.

References

{{Sustainability Organic food Organic farming Agroecology Subscription services

Background

See also

References