Vege-Box Schemes

Vege-box schemes (veggie-box or vegetable-box schemes) are agreements between growers and consumers or marketers of fresh produce. The produce, usually fresh and locally grown, is delivered to a fresh produce stand, a larger fresh foods store, or directly to individual customers. It is viewed as a green enterprise using less energy than commercial farming or importing produce.

In many places, especially in the urban areas of the United States and many other industrialized countries, the demand for fresh food has been increasing. In previous decades, grocery chain stores with displays of virtually blemish-free fruits and vegetables was a great attraction to customers, many of whom had never visited a farm or seen fresh vegetables in a garden. Many customers abandoned smaller fruit stands or neighborhood vegetable and fruit peddlers, who once drove through neighborhood streets in horse-drawn wagons or trucks selling their wares. These types of peddlers and small neighborhood stores had been common from the time of the Great Depression through the Korean War.

Since the prosperity of the 1960s, most urbanites and suburbanites shopped at convenient chain grocery stores for vegetables and fruit. The development of industrial farming turned many fruits and vegetables into commodities that were uniformly the same and sold year-round without the limitations of seasonal availability. Complaints that produce, for example, tomatoes ripened in methane gas chambers, did not taste the same as produce that was naturally grown led to consumers seeking better-quality goods elsewhere.

In addition, as the general public became aware of the vast quantities of chemicals used as fertilizers, pesticides, and herbicides, many grew uncomfortable with the possible negative health consequences. Organic gardens and farms grew in popularity in response. In addition, the growth of huge agricultural corporations using a limited variety of hybrid seeds sparked an interest in preserving heirloom seeds—the seeds of plant varieties that are no longer readily available in mainstream commercial vegetable markets.

In many instances, from the 1980s onward, young people from prosperous backgrounds in urban and suburban areas moved to small towns and farms in search of a quieter lifestyle. To make a living, many turned to organic farming or to specialty-produce farming, especially using heirloom seeds. Urban and suburban families were seeking fresh vegetables just hours out of a garden, rather than those sold in a store days after being picked on an industrial farm or imported from a Third World country.

[Page 448]Vege-box schemes have been developed to fill the desires of customers, usually urban and wealthy, for locally grown fresh foods. In general, vege-box schemes are arrangements with local farmers to deliver an assortment of vegetables that are available as they ripen. A great many vege-box schemes provide organically-grown vegetables directly to the consumer from the producer. These schemes have been growing in popularity in a number of countries. In Great Britain, they are estimated to number well over 600.

Vege-box schemes usually operate by subscription. The customer generally contracts the farmer or gardener to deliver fresh vegetables or fruits every week or every other week. If the farmer also produces goods such as honey, preserves, pickles, meat, or diary products like cheese or goat milk, arrangements can be made for delivery of these products as well.

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