Local organic farms - thinking of ordering meat, produce

[Anonymous]

Hello everyone,

I am thinking of starting ordering organic food from one of the local farms, i.e. meat, seasonal fruits and veggies, so my toddler eat healthy food.
Could you recommend the one you are using and are happy with? Also, how does the quality and price compare with e.g. Whole Foods?

Thanks!

[Anonymous]

where do you live?

[Anonymous]

Would a farmer's market work for you? I shop at Dupont, but there are many around the region: http://freshfarmmarkets.org/

The quality is superb. Our vegetables taste much better than anything you can buy in a supermarket. That's the primary reason I shop there--we are much more likely to eat the vegetables if they taste good!

I can't speak to the price compared to WF. Meat is expensive. We pay about $8-10/lb for the cheaper cuts of meat, and up to $16-20 for more moderate cuts. A pair of chicken breasts is about $12; a pound of ground meat is about $10; a pork butt or other larger piece suitable for roasting (about 2.5-3 lbs) generally runs around $25. We therefore eat less meat.

Last week, off the top of my head, apples were $3/lb, corn was about 75c an ear (although I think we had the last of the corn last week), raspberries were $5 for a pint.

[Anonymous]

Look up the Lancaster Farm Fresh Cooperative- they are an organic CSA that has pickup sites in the area. We've only done veggie shares but they do fruit and some other products as well. They have weekly pickups for their summer season from May-Oct, then have a fall share that is Nov-Dec. So we do that 8 months of the year, and supplement w/ farmer's market or local farms for fruit as needed.

If you have freezer space, there are farms that will sell you big quantities of beef (like a quarter or half a cow--google grassfed beef and your area and they will pop up) which can save you money on quality stuff. South Mountain Creamery has a delivery service too, which is great.

[Anonymous]

I get meat and dairy from South Mountain Creamery. I used to get delivery from South Mountain Veggies as well. These are separate entities but they both deliver to your door and you can order what you want from SMV instead of just getting the basket of produce each week.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I get meat and dairy from South Mountain Creamery. I used to get delivery from South Mountain Veggies as well. These are separate entities but they both deliver to your door and you can order what you want from SMV instead of just getting the basket of produce each week.

I started delivery from both companies recently and am very pleased. It is pricier than I would like but I feel good about the products I am getting. Note that the meat arrives frozen.

[Anonymous]

I use Washington's Green Grocer and like the service. We get a box of local vegetables and fruits every two weeks. You can also order extra items like soup, additional vegetables, meat, etc.

[Anonymous]

Hollins Farms (which also does many pick your own) sells beef in whole, half, and quarter amounts. You get a nice variety and it comes frozen. Make sure you have freezer space!