I just opened my mystery basket of ingredients which included a bunch of curly kale, a tiny funny container of mixed greens, pint of tomatoes, half pint of blueberries, large eggplant, 2 ENORMOUS vidalia onions, 8 carrots, a grapefruit, a sad mango, 4 apples, 4 pears and a partridge in a pear tree (Just kidding!)
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Haha, from your photo, the onion is as big as a melon, anyway bigger than the mango.
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I’m curious as to what makes some of the vegetables/fruits un-sellable or a misfit. A few of the items I see have some nicks and imperfections, but most of the stuff looks good and perhaps even better than some stuff I see sitting in a few stores. Take the shishitos – those look like normal shishitos. When are they ever ugly? Do they look straight and smooth instead? The snow pea pods look good, the carrots look good - why are they grocery store rejects?
My unsubstantiated theory is that these are not always damaged or weird fruits or veggies but more excessive amounts that are projected not to be sold before they rot.
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The MM website and blog detail some of the situations thar result in produce coming to them. Sometimes it’s not freshness but size, sometimes the buyer defaults, etc. I’ve gotten four deliveries so far and at least half the items have been been pristine. Maybe 25% have been a bit bruised or wilted (but easily refreshed in water), and no more than a half dozen have demanded immediate use.
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Those onions are comical😂 do you have a grill? They’re really fantastic grilled…
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Whoah! That is a lot! Funny you keep getting kale, of the three boxes i got all of them had (extra flithy) sweet potatoes
I do! I grill nearly everything from about March - October. I am solidly in the ‘everything can be grilled’ camp.
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Interesting thread to read through. Were west coast and have been getting a small weekly box of organic produce from Imperfect Produce. I would not be down with mystery items showing up weekly, but Imperfect sends an email on Thursday with what is coming in the box. You are then free to delete items, add more of any item, or add from the full list of items. I also like that they list where each item is coming from and why it is “imperfect” or in a lot of cases that the item is just “surplus.” They have also added a few pantry items like coffee beans and olive oil if you want. Oh, and you are free to skip a box as needed. So far, so good. This was a box last week. I added a bunch of nectarines to make some jam. This box was about $28 (usually about $20, but I added the blueberries).
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Much more flex ordering options. Maybe MM will adopt them over time. Great value ta boot.
The advantage of living on the West coast, IMO
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Still somethings to consider under biz practices.
Interesting take on this business model:
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Year after year, I have looked into CSA options in my area. They are always too much produce for a household of one, not to mention the vicissitudes of Massachusetts agriculture. The author is unable to determine the actual level of overproduction, so I draw no conclusions re the validity of that argument. But it seems illogical that farmers, given a way to earn something on a surfeit of produce, would turn around next season and plant ever more than the market will want.
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Interesting. Personally, there are the problems raised by the article, but the major question: why is this over-production, can’t this be stopped?
Secondly, there are all the extra carbon footprint on the individual transport and all those card boxes and packaging that people trash each week.
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The cartons and the insulating material are all recyclable or compostable. Impossible to quantify the comparative fuel costs of home delivery versus trips to farmer’s markets and grocery stores. As a disabled person, I get groceries delivered anyway.
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Some thoughts on “ugly” produce:
There is certainly some logic in what the article says. If a farmer grew 10 tons of produce one year, and 10% went to waste, then it is supposed they would grow 9 tons of produce the following year. (Of course, it is hard to know precisely what the yield will be.) Assuming demand stays relatively steady, that would theoretically be the right amount. But as the article notes, if the farmer sells their 10% surplus to someone, even at a discounted price, do they have any incentive to plant less?
And consider the consumer market for produce. Whatever it is, adding more produce, in the form of “ugly” produce that might otherwise be discarded, will probably not change it. So some produce in stores that might otherwise be sold to consumers is not, and ends up wasted there. The only thing that gets around this would be to increase demand, or at least, consumption, by donating this produce to people who would otherwise not use produce–and this is where the donations to food banks actually do help. (Even the farmers are helped–they can probably get a tax deduction for these donations.)
However, it could also be that when 10 tons of produce are transported to stores, etc., 10% is damaged in transit (bruised, crushed, etc.). So growing 9 tons the next year means only 8.1 tons makes it to market successfully. In other words, there will always be some loss/waste, and the sellers of “ugly” produce do not (and cannot) solve this.
(Of course, trying to avoid damage in shipping is what led to tomatoes that can be transported without damage, but are hard as a rock and taste like one too. Be careful what you wish for.)
Another issue is the effect of shipping this produce to individuals. Even if the boxes are totally recyclable, and totally recycled, there is still an effect on the environment of the manufacture of the shipping materials, and of the fuel required to transport all this produce in small quantities to many end points.
What probably addresses these problems better is buying reduced-price produce in the supermarkets. This sounds like a more effective way to prevent waste than just buying more produce from the farmer.
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Amidst all the quibbling about MM’s impact on food waste, here’s an undeniable benefit to society:
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We buy reduced produce from a variety of NJ grocers and spec markets as well as bulk from farms and weekly shopping as needed. We have gotten very good at using it all. We def want MM to succeed and work out the kinks. Our decision to use what we can buy right in our immediate neighborhood was solidified when MM would not communicate to us why the weight varied dramatically at the price advertised. In the end we are receiving 3xs as much produce for the same money by joining forces with neighbors and asking for reduced produce at the market if the stuff out on green grocer shelf is already past its prime. We havent even hit full garden season yet…
Same opportunity with Blue Apron and Plated. My son went to college near the community housing MM in Philly. I wish more businesses would offer employment to those who desperately need a leg up.
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