Got this in the mail today:
Not sure how they got my name… It came specifically to me, not my roomates — which flatters me a little –
So I’m going for it! The deal: Every 2 weeks, I’ll get several servings each of 12-16 types of in-season, all organic, 90% California-grown fruits-n-veggies delivered to my door. The cost: $29 per delivery.
Yes, some people live in Rochester and have room to grow small urban vegetable gardens. That’s not gonna happen in Siel-land, partly because there’s no gardenable land, and partly because things wilt around me. And the farmer’s market near my place meets only on Thursdays — my school day, so I usually miss it entirely. When I make it there, the produce is mostly not organic — plus it’s pretty tough trying to walk back eight blocks with a ten lb bag of oranges.
I get some organic stuff at Trader Joe’s, but what’s up with all the packaging on their produce? Apples don’t need individualized compartments in four-pack plastic containers, recyclable or not. Exhibit for those unfortunate TJ’s-less people: to the left is what their tomatos come in. Unnecessary, especially if one wants just 1 or 2 tomatos, not 7. Plus, a lot of TJ’s organic stuff seems to come from far, far away places, like New Zealand. Why?
Meaning that I love TJ’s, but I’m with Paul Johnson, founder of Organic Express. According to their website:
Paul was frustrated by the inconvenience of shopping for organic foods.
Searching for alternatives, and being dissatisfied with everything he found, Paul decided to create what he was looking for.
Thus: Until an organic farmer’s market miraculously materializes near me, I have Organic Express. Hopefully their veggies won’t be overpackaged. I’m a little concerned that this’ll be an overwhelming amount of produce — but then again, I like challenges. Especially yummy ones…
**Update, 9/6/05: Got my first shipment! The only packaging: 2 small plastic bags for the tomatos and green beans. Everything came in a sturdy cardboard box — with a note to return the box, as they’ll be reused! I heart Organic Express!
**Update, 9/9/05: Stephanie at Packed in Saccharin tried Organic Espress, and she hearts it too.
**Update, 10/1/05: I found some other organic produce deliverers, and am weighing my options…
Filed in: organic environment shopping losangeles california food vegetarian
August 30th, 2005 at 10:31 pm
I live in suburban Milwaukee and there are no organic products to be had anywhere, anytime. This is depressing, since I used to live in Madison where organic produce was thrown at you. The best I can say today is that I don’t buy premixed yogurt. That’s an interesting service, though. And you’re right. Why should our food be grown thousands of miles from where we live? I’m no expert and I understand why Wisconsinites have to buy their bananas, for example, from far away, but for most other foods I just don’t see the comparative advantage of it. Anyway, I wonder how you got on their mailing list?
August 31st, 2005 at 12:44 pm
Congratulation! Its funny that you posted on organics as I though about writing a post on my blog about the same topic. Walking through the co-op today i wondered how many people know what “organic” means?
An excellent observation regarding packaging… it seems that no matter how well intentioned a producer or organiztion is, it seems that if they would go one step further enivornmentally sound products could be even greener!
Take care.
Earth House Hold
August 31st, 2005 at 2:05 pm
It’s possible that Vegetarian Times sold their mailing list to Organic Express — I had to unsubscribe after coming to terms with the fact that I’m never going to be a good cook. After a while, it just got a little sad –
Perhaps I should tell Trader Joe’s about my qualms about their packaging. They seem very responsive to customers, though they haven’t taken my suggestion regarding fair trade chocolate bars yet. That may actually be a good thing. For my thighs, I mean.
September 6th, 2005 at 1:08 pm
Hi, I was happy to find your blog, at least there is more people trying to make a difference.
2 years ago, My wife and me decided to do something else, and we created Bonicca, a totally natural organic skin care company, 100% animal cruelty free, etc.. etc.. we spent a long time researching and researching, until one day we were really happy with out products. We also help other organic organizations that support organic farming, fair trade, etc..
Any ways, I would like to send you a couple of samples as a reward to your efforts.
Let me know if you would like to receive them..
You can check us out at www.bonicca.com
Take Care
Oscar
September 6th, 2005 at 4:43 pm
Oscar — Wow, that’s so sweet! I just checked out your site — Pretty :) And yes, I’d love some samples! Please email me at greenlagirl@sbcglobal.net and I’ll email back my snailmail address.
I was wondering — Is Bonicca sold exclusively via the web, or do you have physical stores/distributors? Wondering if it would be possible for Angelenos to buy Bonicca locally –
September 9th, 2005 at 1:30 pm
Siel, thanks for posting this. I tried it out and really love it. It’s just an all-around awesome service.
September 26th, 2005 at 4:30 pm
I’m sad… no service for me!
September 27th, 2005 at 12:07 am
Oh! So sad! Where do you live, eecue?
Actually tried to leave a message on your blog, but I get a weird message: “sorry, you haven’t entered your nick.” Any idea what that’s about?
Anyway — One other option you might try, which I’ve also tried and love, is ParadiseO. They’re $5 cheaper, to boot. And if that doesn’t work, maybe you can send OE an email saying you’re interested? I’m hoping the service will expand as more people start going organic — and start eating more veggies in general. Here’s hoping :)
July 6th, 2007 at 10:35 pm
Terrible customer service! I went on their website to change my delivery dates as I was going to be out of town and needed to skip my weekly delivery. Everything went fine on the website but when I got back from my trip there was a box of rotting produce waiting for me. Called customer service and explained that I had changed the delivery date which they acknowledged. The customer service rep told me that the website doesn’t actually cancel the next delivery even though it says it does and told me that it was my mistake that I didn’t call in person to change the date. I asked them to refund the delivery and they refused. I told them that it wasn’t me but their website that had the problem and requested that my $29 be refunded. They refused even after I told them I would cancel my membership and go to Planet Organics…their competition. They said fine and canceled my membership…Over one $29 delivery that was the fault of their shoddy website. A friend had a similar problem and had the same bad experience with their customer service and switched to Planet Organics. These guys really need to figure their customer experience out. If a customer is unhappy over a delivery that is their faultt they need to take care of it and keep a customer rather than telling them its not their problem.
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