And so we start 2010, hopefully with a spring in our step and a heart full of good resolution. I have my plans for the coming year and I’m sure you do too. Doubtless some of them will include eating well and maybe doing an extra bit for the planet… If so, you’re in luck!

In one easy, inexpensive and tasty swoop you can get yourself well underway.

If you live in N/E London (Hackney/Tower Hamlets) you can sign up to this rather unique local box scheme - Growing Communities. I did 2 years ago and haven’t looked back. They do all the legwork for you, growing some produce themselves (Hackney salad anyone?) and sourcing the rest from local organic producers, a few select French and Italian co-operatives (for oranges, lemons and the like) and fair-trade organic bananas from further affield. This means that you get excellent local produce (81% from the UK last year) but you also maintain a good variety in your box.

All you have to do is pop by on one weekday night to your local pick-up point to get your seasonal fruit and veg - a real bonus if you live in a flat, as I do, and don’t have anywhere for deliveries to be left. You can check what you’re getting online before you pick-up - handy as it gives you time to work out what’s for dinner. They are a charming and welcoming bunch, plus there are often extras like fresh farm eggs to buy, free leftovers to top up with and a swap box if there is anything this week that you don’t like.

The scheme is surprisingly inexpensive, just £44 a month for a week’s worth of veg for two - they also do a smaller bag for one.

I say surprising because you couldn’t buy bog standard veg in the supermarket for that much, but here you’re getting really high quality, fresh organic produce. It hasn’t flown around the world accumulating thousands of air miles, or been picked green so that it lasts the weeks before it reaches your plate. And you’re supporting local communities and small producers to boot.

The boxes are always good and varied, you get a rich diet of fruit and veg balanced by the seasons - at first I wasn’t sure if I would like not being able to choose what I was eating, but actually it is rather liberating to get what nature gives you, it makes you a bit more creative in your cooking and you know you’re always eating a healthy amount of veg (if not the over-full veg drawers soon let you know it).

I have discovered the wonders of many new vegetables, like squash, so infinite in its varieties and rich in its colours. I have also learnt to appreciate the waiting for a fruit to come back in season, eating it only at its peak and enjoying it so much more. Of course if you do have a craving for passion fruit in January, so be it, you can happily buy the odd bit of tropical fruit or un-seasonal tomato as an occasional treat, but honestly, I very rarely feel the need.

There are 7 pick-up points around Hackney and Tower Hamlets - with a new Green Lanes pick-up opening in Feb (View Pick-ups on a Map). They also run the Farmer’s Market in Stoke Newington (10-2 every Saturday, William Patten School, Church St, N16) where you can shop for local fruit and veg and also meats, cheeses and more.

So as far as New Year’s resolutions go, this one is a really easy one to keep!

Find out more on the Growing Communities site

PS Growing Communities is the only one of its kind, so far. If you don’t live in Hackney but would like to get involved they are always looking for other groups around London to mentor to get their very own growing community up and running.

Tags: local produce, local veg, seasonal fruit and vegetables, veg box scheme

This entry was posted on Saturday, January 2nd, 2010 at 6:44 pm by urban foodie and is filed under Local Food. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.