Any experience with Arganica Farm Club?

[Anonymous]

Just saw the Daily Deal on Living Social.

Seems like a better option than a CSA. Anyone use them? I've never done a CSA or anything like that before, but this seems like a good deal, and a good way to try it out.

[Anonymous]

I have heard mixed stuff about them. For example, check out this thread on chowhound--

http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/761234

[Anonymous]

i bought the arganica deal the last time around and was really disappointed. my deliveries were often late or didn't come at all. i would meticulously place an order so i could cook for the week only to discover after it was delivered that they ran out of several of my main ingredients. the products were very hit or miss - even some of the stuff i thought i could trust like the polly face farm meats. i really really want to support this company, and i keep trying week after week, but eventually it wore me out.

[Anonymous]

We used Arganica for about a year, or I should say, we had a membership for a year and sometimes ordered. I think your success with something like this depends on how you cook and shop. I really liked the service and the people and the food, but I was not organized enough to get good use out of it. My husband loved the bison products and the ice cream, but everything else was just as easy to get at our local farmer's market. The produce wasn't any better quality than the grocery store. I liked the idea of buying local, but there are other ways to get to that goal.

Also, they left the bin on our front porch, which was very convenient, except that I didn't get home from work some days until it had been sitting on the porch for a while and things were a little wilted during the summer months. Again, that was more of a problem with me than with them not delivering on what they promised.

We didn't renew for a second year. If you are a die-hard CSA user and want a slightly more flexible option, it might work for you because you can order specific things instead of just the random weekly box. It also might be a good way to dabble in locally-sourced grocery delivery. However, I don't know if it is really a practical way to go if your goal is to give up grocery shopping and feed your whole family.

They have a one month trial membership (and a three month, I think) so you could try it out and see.

[Anonymous]

Thank you for the feedback!! And, for that Chowhound thread.

(sorry, I posted this in the wrong forum, originally...... )

[Anonymous]

We ended up cancelling after startiing with high hopes. We used to use Washington's Green Grocer, and I had high hopes for Arganica because of the variety and the wild-gathered foods, which were phenomenal in the beginning. I think they tried to grow too much too fast. Delivieries were late or didn't come at all, greens were a disaster - half rotten by the time they got to us, many of the products were actually things I could get for much less other places, many of the supposedly fresh items actually came frozen, and the one that clinched it for us was that we loved the organic grass fed milk they brought in from Trickling Springs Creamery, so we bought a milk share, only to discover after a few months that they were charging us the same price as everyone else after we paid many hundreds of dollars for the milk shaere to get a lower price.

We finally couldn't take it anymore. It was a great idea, but if you can't deliver the product or keep your accounting straight, you shouldn't be in business. We just go to WholeFoods now and have since made friends with an organic farmer in PA, from whom we may start getting some items.

[Anonymous]

They've improved a lot since I started in January. Produce looks good and I get delivery early Sunday morning so nothing sits out long. Nothing too weird in the produce boxes. They were really responsive when one item was left out of our order.