In November, just as my CSA was ending for the year, I bought a Groupon for an Urban Organic Original Value Produce Box for $20 including delivery to Westchester (the company is based in Brooklyn). I thought I’d hold onto the Groupon until January, when I’d have used up the last of my CSA share and would be starting to incorporate more supermarket vegetables into my shopping. Had I bought the box without the discount, I would have paid a $25 registration fee as a new customer, plus $34.99 for the produce, plus another $4.99 delivery charge to Westchester (other areas cost less).
Urban Organic is all about certified organic produce, not necessarily local. They bulk buy from many different sources, and do try to buy locally when possible. But considering my box contained grapefruit, oranges, and tangerines (in addition to sweet potatoes, green leaf lettuce, Russet potatoes, eggplant, broccoli, Granny Smith apples, and Bosc pairs — I declined delivery of carrots, bananas, and kiwi) and it is a freezing cold January in New York, it is not all from around here.
Here’s what the box looked like when I received it:
Unfortunately, all the heavy fruit was on top of the more delicate greens. The lettuce held up fine, but the spinach looked on its last legs. The eggplant was in the worst shape of the bunch, with its skin peeling off on its lower half (it looked like it had been wet for a long time), and the top quarter practically dissolved when I picked it up. After a night in the fridge, it was unusably mushy, and I had to throw it all out, even though I am usually happy to carve out bad parts to find what can be saved. That said, the rest of the produce looked mostly unblemished, save for some cosmetic bruising (particularly on the apples).
Best of all the, everything tasted great. The lettuce smelled as though we’d just pulled it from our home garden, and it was fresh and crisp. The citrus was full of sweet juicy flavor — no anemic, dried-out fruit here. We really enjoyed the pears and apples as well. It was a lot of fruit for us, though — we tend to eat more vegetables than fruit, and a week later there are still some pieces hanging out on our kitchen counter.
We are lucky that we have a couple nearby indoor farmer’s markets to choose from during the winter, and I would tend to buy my produce there than use any delivery service again. I like the atmosphere of the market, and if I had to choose I’d prefer to buy local produce over organic anyway. I’m also willing to buy non-organic produce from the supermarket (though my grocery does have a fairly large selection of organic, most of it shrink-wrapped on Styrofoam trays, which just slays me), so I don’t feel that I need a resource like a delivery service to keep our produce consumption up.
While Urban Organic seems like a pleasant one to work with (the driver called for directions and was courteous; a customer service agent called once to thank me for buying the Groupon and to let me know the box was on its way) and on the whole the produce was in good shape and tasty, it’s not the right service for me to use again, at any price.
Disclosure: If you use the Groupon link above to sign up for an account, I get $10 in Groupon Bucks when you buy your first Groupon. I bought this Urban Organic Groupon with my own money, and will continue to buy Groupons regardless of whether I earn their Bucks or not.
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As 2010 comes to a close, I want to thank you. Yes, you.Thank you for reading. Thank you for commenting. Thank you for emailing. Thank you again. I write this site for me, but I am always grateful and humbled to hear that you find it useful or entertaining, too. And a special thank you to Merrie, for telling me she was waiting to read this year’s stats.
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Wishing you a happy, healthy, and prosperous 2011!
I volunteer for a committee through our school PTA called Caring Community. This group provides meals both short- and long-term for people in our community (elderly, school staff, students and their families) that are in crisis, usually due to illness or coping with a loss. Thankfully, it has not been a terribly busy committee.
I’ve seen these types of groups referred to elsewhere as Community Outreach, Sharing/Caring, or Helping Hands. The chairs of the committee coordinate dinner delivery for families in need from a larger group of volunteers willing to cook, and pass along any information on allergies, favorite foods, and how many people need to be fed.
Recently my turn came up again to cook for a family of five (plus extra for leftovers) that could pass on Italian food, but likes Chinese. Since my standard spinach lasagna or Baked Ziti weren’t a good fit, I decided to make Bob’s Cold Sesame Noodles, A Year of Slow Cooking’s Slow Cooker Beef & Broccoli (heavy on the broccoli), and rice. I included a small batch of M&M cookies as well.
This was my first time making the Beef & Broccoli, and I would make it again with some changes. I used frozen, but thawed broccoli florets as per the recipe but I was reminded after cooking it that I just don’t like the way frozen broccoli smells or tastes. I think I’d much prefer it with fresh broccoli, steamed first and added just before serving. Also, even cooking on low the dish was done in 4 hours — so watch it carefully.
Does your community or school have a similar organization? I think it’s a perfect fit for our small town, and especially helpful in cases where a family may not have nearby relatives or a church or synagogue to lean on in trying times.The only hard part about the way our group is set up is there is never feedback on the meal you prepared. Every cook wants their food to be enjoyed, and that wish is magnified when you’re hoping the meal provides a brief respite from troubles in addition to filling bellies.
Three and a half years ago, I started meal planning and cooking more. Before then, a plain bowl of pasta with shredded mozzarella on top could have been lunch and dinner for a month at a time — that’s what the boys wanted, and there was little I seemed able to do to entice them to try anything else. It didn’t make me feel good about my parenting, and I was so frustrated with my kids’ limited diet. I didn’t want to fight about food.
I started with a simple theory in early 2007: if I regularly presented new food to the boys, and they saw others in their family eating and enjoying it, they would eventually try it too. It’s been a long haul proving that hypothesis, but 2010 has been a breakthrough year for us. True, the boys are older and they may have grown into an expanded food repertoire on their own. But I’d like to think my commitment to cooking — and not offering alternate meals if they didn’t like what I’d made — has had something to do with it.
On Tuesday, I made turkey burgers with whole wheat buns and lettuce and tomato, kale chips, and sweet potato fries. None of these items, save the bread, are things the boys normally eat, though they’re close. They will eat roast chicken (not that different from ground turkey), white potato french fries, and potato chips (salty and crunch, like the kale I made). As with many meals, I knew that at a minimum they’d eat the rolls; ideally, they’d try something else on the table as well. My 5 year-old — the pickier eater of the two — asked if he could please try the kale chips. He also asked for a piece of lettuce, and tried both a sweet potato fry and a bite of turkey burger without any fuss. He didn’t care to eat a second bite of any of those things, but the trying in and of itself is a huge step from where he was even six months ago. A. made himself half a tomato sandwich, and then a lettuce sandwich — 100% more vegetables than he would have eaten any given night a year ago. My parents and I had to avoid each others’ eyes, afraid we’d break the magic of all this new-food trying if we said anything.
At seven years old, A. now looks forward to tobiko (fish roe sushi), steak, J.’s smoked brisket, apples, watermelon, cilantro (he eats it by the spoonful), rice, roasted chicken, lettuce, sugar snap peas, green beans, and more. He frequently tries food that J. and I are eating, and I wouldn’t hesitate to take him into any restaurant — we’d be able to find something he’d eat. We’ve come such a long way since April 2008, when he would accept just pasta and yogurt.
Likewise, G. continues to take small steps towards a wider acceptance of different foods. Tuesday night was an extreme example of his budding willingness to taste new things, but it is a trend now, and not an exception to his usual behavior. I even cheer when he tries something like Reese’s Pieces, because it challenges his belief that he doesn’t like peanut butter. Maybe next he’ll try a peanut butter sandwich.
At the boys’ annual doctor check-ups this year, we were asked several lifestyle questions: “Do you wear a helmet when you ride a bike?” and “Do you like going to school?” I was relieved that for the first time in their lives, I was able to answer “Yes” to “Are you happy with their eating habits?” Yes, we’re getting there. And yes, that makes me happy.
I'm Dara, the Chick in the Kitchen. Living in the suburbs of Manhattan with my two school-aged boys and husband. Feeding my family something more diverse than a different shape of pasta each night. Read more about me and CITK, and keep in touch:
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Cheesy Kale Crisps: We rarely eat kale now that our farm share is over, and I want to fix that. I've wanted to try using nutritional yeast, and this recipe looks like a tasty way to do it.
I'm Dara, the Chick in the Kitchen. Living in the suburbs of Manhattan with my two school-aged boys and husband. Feeding my family something more diverse than a different shape of pasta each night. Read more 
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