Knock, Knock! It’s Your Produce
50 YEARS AGO, PEOPLE LEFT A NOTE FOR THE MILKMAN TO DELIVER DAIRY PRODUCTS. TODAY, YOU CAN GO ONLINE OR USE AN APP TO ORDER FROM LOCAL FARMS.
Shopping at farmers markets or participating in a CSA are two ways you can get farm-fresh fruits and vegetables. But what if you can’t fit it in your schedule? You need a delivery service. And just as juice companies deliver to busy consumers, so do some produce companies. One such service, Once Upon a Carrot (http://onceuponacarrot.org), has been delivering local and organic produce to Miami-area customers since 2009.(A produce box is pictured above) “Our customers are healthconscious professionals and it appears most of them are empty nesters or professionals with no children,” says Cindy Hill. “We not only offer local produce but we support Florida farmers, ranchers and artisans.” The online store also sells meat and seafood, dairy and eggs, baked goods, pet food and honey, all a la carte. Customers order and pay online, and can either pick up their goods for free, or pay a delivery fee. There’s no membership fee.
HIGH TECH
Heady Foods (http://headyfoods.com), launching in January, is an online service that uses technology to quickly get fresh, local produce to customers, restaurants and caterers. “Our ordering process will be familiar to anybody who’s experienced requesting a ride with Uber,” says co-founder Steve Schellbach. “The orders are placed through our app and a pin is dropped on a map to mark the requested delivery location.” Customers can see which farm grew the produce and how it was grown – hydroponic, organic, and so on. Schellbach says they aim to match supermarket prices for commonly available products. “As we grow we’ll be able to use economies of scale to provide our customers with the lowest prices. Ideally, the farmer should be able to keep most of the money in each sale.” Members pay $9 a month and choose from all products, delivered within 24 hours, or they can try a $30 surprise box with no commitment or signup fee. Heady Foods, which targets busy people who hate spending time shopping, looks for ways to support local farmers and the community to build a food system where nearly everything that we eat comes from the area in which we live “because that will make our community more sustainable,” he says. “Being sustainable makes you more resilient. Resilience is what allows systems to endure through problems and obstacles. Not only this, but buying food that is locally grown helps the local economy, which in turn will help the customer.”
