The Produce Box

This spring, The Produce Box hosted our first “Audience Awards!” We asked our members to make videos telling us the best thing they did with their Produce Box. We received some amazing submissions and wound up with some fantastic winners -- chosen by hundreds of jury votes and by our friends at 100 Days of Real Food. One of our winners was Terrie, pictured here with her family! She prepared a delicious- looking Stuffed Portobello Parmesan for her video, including step by step instructions starting with the recipe and going to the grill. She used fresh portobello mushrooms and tomatoes from The Produce Box, as well as balsamic vinaigrette and various cheeses. This recipe has our mouths watering! We caught up with Terrie to celebrate her victory. Q: What inspired you to make your video? The prize money inspired me! We have 5 family members over the age of 15 and one that's less than a year. When I saw the contest I thought about all of the gre...

Delicious tips to help you eat local and in season! Stacey Sprenz, local food photographer, recently taught a class on behalf of The Produce Box at Whisk in Cary. This great class helped emphasize the importance of eating fresh, local and in season -- while showing how foods that grow in the same season often combine really naturally into delicious dishes! When you belong to a food delivery service like The Produce Box, you'll see these items side by side in your Box - why not enjoy them side by side on your plate too! It’s easy to use seasonal vegetables side by side in a frittata, pasta, or stir-fry. Here are a few examples of veggie that grow together and go together easily: Summer: zucchini, tomatoes, onions, eggplants, and peppers Fall: sweet potatoes (or butternut squash), kale (or collards), and shiitake mushrooms Winter: kale, winter squash, and root vegetables. Spring: onions, spinach, and new potatoes. Some of Stacey’s unique ideas for serving seasonal fo...

Guest post from a TPB Neighborhood Coordinator A few years ago, I thought being a part of a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) program was the best way to source my family's fresh food. It’s a great way to support a local food system: invest in the farm at the start of the growing season and get a weekly share of the crops throughout the harvest. It wasn't until a couple of years later that I joined The Produce Box and realized how much it operated like a CSA, but worked much better for my family. Wondering how they compare? Check this out: Cost. While the cost for the whole season is comparable, a CSA requires a hefty payment at the beginning of the season (or several large payments spread out over the season) to help the farmers procure, implement, and maintain everything they need for the year's crops. Paying a small enrollment fee with The Produce Box and then only when you order (every week, every other week - whatever works for you!) for a Box is much m...

Learn about our contributions to Second Harvest Food Bank and PORCH and how YOU can get involved! Part of our mission at The Produce Box is to “Eat Good. Do Good. Feel Good.” For us, doing good involves donating produce to local charities. Second Harvest Food Bank of Metrolina (SHFBM) is a non-profit with four distribution warehouses that give food and other groceries to non-profit or other community agencies that then serve people in need. SHFBM serves 14+ counties in NC, mostly on the Western side of the state. They partner with almost 650 agencies, including soup kitchens, emergency pantries, residential care facilities, homeless shelters, senior programs, and low-income daycares. Last year, they distributed 46 million pounds of food and other essential grocery products! Second Harvest offers a wide variety of programs for kids, seniors, disaster relief and more. Approximately 80% of the food SHFBM distributes has been donated to them -- that’s where The Produce Box comes ...