Bristol Veg Boxes – delicious food to your doorstep
Reducing the amount of plastic we use in our everyday lives has become a bit of a crusade for me. I’ve reduced most of our cosmetics (shampoo, soap etc) to bar form, went to the zero-waste shop, and I try to take a re-useable coffee cup with me when I go out. Unfortunately, I found it difficult to buy vegetables from the supermarket without having them wrapped in plastic. You’d think it would be easy to buy veggies in paper bags, but all my local shops wanted to shrinkwrap them!
Enter: veg boxes! There are a few nationwide options, like Abel and Cole or Riverford, but I wanted something a bit more local than that. Food miles are also something to think about when trying to be green, so I decided on Bristol Veg Boxes. For nine months of the year, they source their food from farms local to Bristol, and during the “hungry gap”, they may go further afield, but always try to use produce from as close as possible.
I chose a medium box, delivered every 2 weeks – this week, I got an aubergine, a head of broccoli, some carrots, parsnips, celeriac, two huge beetroots, a bag of mushrooms, and a few potatoes. I also opted to have 6 eggs (local eggs!) and a fancy bread (this week it was focaccia) – all of this costs £19, delivered to our door!
The veg selection varies from week to week, according to what’s in season – it’s also possible to have milk and cheese delivered, too. Everything is organic, and it’s always fresh and delicious – no wonky veg or tiny, old produce here.
Even with our veggie diets, we’ve found a box lasts for two weeks with minimal topping-up (I usually only buy things that aren’t in season if I need it, such as tomatoes or bags of salad, but come summer, these should be arriving in our boxes too!), and it’s nice to be presented with food I wouldn’t usually buy. This week, for example – I have no idea what I’m going to do with the beetroot, so I’ll look up some recipes and try something new!
Bristol Veg Boxes take payment via direct debit, and always deliver on the same day, dependent on area. They do have a catchment area for deliveries, but it covers most of Bristol.
They also have a refer-a-friend scheme, where on your third box, you receive a free one, and so does your friend! I’d really recommend them to anyone looking for a local veg box company – and just so you know, I haven’t been paid to promote them, just think they have a great service!
Do you have any recommendations for local services that help you live a greener, more low-impact life? Drop them in the comments! x
