Thank you Helen for a well researched and informative article. I feel a bit helpless in the face of this corporate power but I’m going to try and buy directly where I can and support British growers.
Great article Helen thank you. I’ve recently subscribed to a local veg box which supports local growers supplemented by wholesale goods in leaner months. I am happy to do this. I know the produce is great quality but I think there are barriers to its success. The first is that I get no choice in what I get. Yesterday’s box included Chinese cabbage which I dislike but will cook because I have it in the fridge. I think my support of this will ultimately lead to more food waste which is a shame. The second is cost. I get a veg box, a polytunnel box and four cartons of organic eggs for £49. I think that’s fine. My neighbour was horrified at the cost when I tried to get them to sign up. If you are used to shopping at aldi or Lidl this does feel like a lot of money. How do we shift the mindset?
Such a good, honest question, and I think you’ve put your finger on two real barriers that don’t get talked about enough.
On the no choice issue, I’d actually suggest you tell your veg box scheme about the Chinese cabbage. Not a long list of demands, just a simple “is it possible to swap this out or opt out of it in future.” Small growers and box schemes live or die on retention, and most would rather have a happy customer who keeps subscribing than a well meaning customer quietly building up waste and resentment. Even if they cannot offer swaps, the feedback helps them shape future boxes and recipe support.
On cost and mindset, you’re right that £49 is reasonable for what you’re getting, but we’re all competing with a food system that has trained us to treat cheap as normal and to forget the real costs. Those costs show up somewhere else, in soil degradation, chemical dependency, squeezed labour, long supply chains, and welfare compromises. The other piece is seasonality. We’ve been conditioned to expect anything, any time, and that expectation drives imports and production methods that prioritise uniformity and yield over resilience and taste.
I don’t think most households can switch overnight, financially or practically, and I try to hold that in my writing too. The shift tends to happen through manageable steps, one box a month, eggs from a local farm, a seasonal swap, learning a couple of flexible recipes, and slowly recalibrating what “normal” looks like. You’re already doing the hard part by trying it, and if you can reduce the bits that feel like forced waste, you’ll be much more likely to stick with it and bring your neighbour along over time.
It sounds like a problem we have in the US as well. I once worked for a local butcher shop thinking I would be able to help in building up and promoting our local farms. Imagine my disappointment when I found out they were cutting boxed beef from all over the world and advertising it as locally raised! The owner wanted us to lie to people. I could not do that so left to go work in a custom processing facility that was right on a farm.
Thank you Helen for a well researched and informative article. I feel a bit helpless in the face of this corporate power but I’m going to try and buy directly where I can and support British growers.
Thank you for the feedback Jillian, your comment definitely inspired my deep dive into this subject! So thank you for that too!
Great article Helen thank you. I’ve recently subscribed to a local veg box which supports local growers supplemented by wholesale goods in leaner months. I am happy to do this. I know the produce is great quality but I think there are barriers to its success. The first is that I get no choice in what I get. Yesterday’s box included Chinese cabbage which I dislike but will cook because I have it in the fridge. I think my support of this will ultimately lead to more food waste which is a shame. The second is cost. I get a veg box, a polytunnel box and four cartons of organic eggs for £49. I think that’s fine. My neighbour was horrified at the cost when I tried to get them to sign up. If you are used to shopping at aldi or Lidl this does feel like a lot of money. How do we shift the mindset?
Such a good, honest question, and I think you’ve put your finger on two real barriers that don’t get talked about enough.
On the no choice issue, I’d actually suggest you tell your veg box scheme about the Chinese cabbage. Not a long list of demands, just a simple “is it possible to swap this out or opt out of it in future.” Small growers and box schemes live or die on retention, and most would rather have a happy customer who keeps subscribing than a well meaning customer quietly building up waste and resentment. Even if they cannot offer swaps, the feedback helps them shape future boxes and recipe support.
On cost and mindset, you’re right that £49 is reasonable for what you’re getting, but we’re all competing with a food system that has trained us to treat cheap as normal and to forget the real costs. Those costs show up somewhere else, in soil degradation, chemical dependency, squeezed labour, long supply chains, and welfare compromises. The other piece is seasonality. We’ve been conditioned to expect anything, any time, and that expectation drives imports and production methods that prioritise uniformity and yield over resilience and taste.
I don’t think most households can switch overnight, financially or practically, and I try to hold that in my writing too. The shift tends to happen through manageable steps, one box a month, eggs from a local farm, a seasonal swap, learning a couple of flexible recipes, and slowly recalibrating what “normal” looks like. You’re already doing the hard part by trying it, and if you can reduce the bits that feel like forced waste, you’ll be much more likely to stick with it and bring your neighbour along over time.
It sounds like a problem we have in the US as well. I once worked for a local butcher shop thinking I would be able to help in building up and promoting our local farms. Imagine my disappointment when I found out they were cutting boxed beef from all over the world and advertising it as locally raised! The owner wanted us to lie to people. I could not do that so left to go work in a custom processing facility that was right on a farm.
Excellent and insightful article the thanks much