Back in the box
Unravelling a veg box, Michelin love-hate and newfound joy
Hello and welcome to my newsletter about food, people and planet. It’s free to read, but you could choose to be a paid subscriber to support my writing.
My new book In Good Taste: What Shapes What We Eat and Drink - And Why it Matters is out now and available on Waterstones, Amazon, bookshop.org and more.
This week I braved blistering ice cold winds to do something I wouldn’t have bothered with until recently. I travelled to Wallington to Sutton Community farm, to see where my bi weekly veg is grown. I’ve talked about my relatively new-found love for a veg box subscription here before, but I wanted to share some insights from my recent work.
First, tell me…
I only subscribed last year after dithering for a few years about this. I’m alone half the week. My kids can be awkward with vegetables when they’re with me half the week. Could I justify limiting my veg selection given the recipe testing I have to do? Would it increase my food waste levels?
Interestingly enough, my fears were mostly unfounded. My teens have swallowed and digested all manner of vegetables alongside the diet of trans fats and UPFs they inhale outside their school. I’ve found it exciting to get creative with vegetables and feel more in tune with growing seasons.
These boxes come from passionate people building ethical, sustainable businesses while swimming upstream in a system tilted against them, with better-funded players. Sadly, many of the schemes are under pressure.
During Covid, there was a peak in interest and they were doing rather well. With cost of living pressures, many subscriptions got cancelled. Farming is hard work anyway, but organic, small scale farming is even harder I am told. There is a precarious tightrope to walk, balancing the volume of boxes with the resources needed to grow, distribute and operate.
Interestingly, while leafy greens and salads are seen as premium, local fruit and veg don’t get the same respect. I personally don’t think premium veg boxes have helped the case for the smaller players. One campaign promoted their wares as the “inconvenient choice” which has backfire written all over it. It’s also not accurate. I can’t think of anything more convenient than having seasonal, local, low pesticide, fresh produce delivered to or near you!
You will, however, have to wash the veg when it arrives and plan some meals (or several) with seasonal items. We ate a lot of chard last year…
Sutton Community Farm spreads across seven acres with 200 volunteers and has been going for 16 years. They focus on variety and have upgraded recently to a more cutting-edge digital platform for shoppers. I’m not giving up my supermarket shop any time soon, but I’ve enjoyed making room and space in my fridge and life for them.
If we want to contribute to a better food future, we have to vote with our wallets, cook more and eat better. An organic fruit and veg box delivery is a quick way to do this. I discovered Produced Nearby, a directory of local producers, which you might want to check out (or list on, if you’re a producer). Better Food Traders Network also has a directory of members.
A note on restaurant love
You may have noticed Michelin doing its thing again recently. I have very little interest in their stars and stripes, and think it’s a hegemonic system that reinforces outdated power structures and food hierarchies. I wrote about it here:
Saying that, I’ve stopped expressing my distaste about it for two reasons:
Expensive restaurants (and chefs) are often a huge market for ethical and sustainable produce and products. What we don’t buy at home, we may spend on at these establishments, which makes them a profitable revenue stream for the likes of Sutton and more.
Michelin stars attract a certain kind of well-heeled client and help restaurateurs recruit. This carries the weight of pure gold for a lot of chefs and restaurant owners, particularly in the relentlessly brutal and hostile political and economic climate they face.
It’s pleasing to see more diverse voices and faces getting recognition in an opaque system. Maria Bradford’s Shwen Shwen tops my list of spIurges when my finances recover. I enjoyed reading Andy Hayler’s words on this for Vittles. If you don’t have a subscription, the Insta post they did offers a useful sneak peak
Product(s) of the week
I thought I’d start sharing some lovely new discoveries that you might want to support. These are not new products or disruptors necessarily, just lovely edible things that are ethical, sustainable, respectful and most importantly, irresistible. What do you think?
First up, a gorgeous gift box of 12 chocolate nightingale eggs from The Chocolate Detective by Chantal Coady OBE who also founded Rococo chocolates. We passed them around after family lunch with friends that I cooked and it was such fun. A great gift!
Joy of the week
It’s the last day of half term, so indulge me in a small proud mum moment. I was out one evening and my 16-year-old had to fend for herself. I braced for a nutritionally dubious beige update from the corner shop.
Instead, she sent me a photo of a minced beef udon bowl she’d thrown together: good-quality mince with Ottolenghi Group sweet and smokey spice, White Mausu peanut rayu, soy, udon noodles, cucumber, kimchi and, pleasingly, toasted sesame seeds for garnish.
She left me a portion because she was so proud. It was delicious. She was thrilled with my professional verdict.
My dad always said some people have taste in their hands. I don’t want to get ahead of myself, but I think she might. After years of gentle nudging towards better food, something, somewhere is clearly landing. Didn’t she do well?
A few other bits and bobs
Happy Chinese New Year and Happy Lunar New Year to those who just celebrated. I’m not sure what I made of Chinamaxxing, but it was pleasing to see a global community in all its potent cultural power.
Also Ramadan Kareem. I am sad to miss out on All That’s Lebanese feast for The Guild of Food Writers. I was guest in Lina’s home last year and she is a warm host and excellent cook!
In Good Taste is now stocked at Hodmedod’s, which makes me very happy. There’s a free voucher included with it
It has also received four, unprompted five-star reviews on Amazon already from verified customers! If you’ve read it, please do leave me a review where you bought it from - makes a huge difference
My Powerful Pantry discussion at Fortnum’s is “selling quickly” apparently. If you’re able to come along, event details are here:
A question for you
I’ve been inspired by fellow Substackers to open up space for my readers on here. Do you have any clever, creative thoughts about what I could offer or do? It would have to have a focus on culture, diversity and sustainability of course. I’d be grateful for your thoughts and suggestions!
That’s all from me this week. Thank you for being here, and see you next week. Series two of my In Good Taste podcast is landing.
I would love to see tips about new products that have been released and where to find them eg I recently came across Homi Kitchen - who produce a Giga Chilli Sauce and a Hei Hei Pepper Sauce (which I wanted to use and recreate a dish I'd enjoyed in Singapore ) for Black Pepper Crab. Their founder came to the UK and started supper clubs to nourish her Singaporean roots and authentic food culture, which then grew into Homi Kitchen and the sauces they produce; I purchased mine at Selfridges food hall, a great repository for a number of Asian products these days. This is the kind of thing I would love to see, like an In Good Taste "Product Focus" feature. Thanks Mallika. IGT is always a fascinating read in my Inbox.
Finally had the time to read this properly. Love to see you visit Sutton Farm and see where some of their lovely veg is grown. I loved be a part of their harvest festival a few years back. Cooking next to the spinach was quite the experience! Looking forward to my fortnightly veg bag arriving today, I wish I could do more but I hope these little changes do help the system.