The Produce Box

Did you know? Corn is native to North Carolina .  Most of the corn grown in North Carolina is grown in the Coastal Plains. AND, according to the most recent Census of Agriculture, North Carolina harvested 3,464 acres of tomatoes for fresh markets in 2012. We love to encourage our members to eat what's in SEASON and LOCAL! Here's a delicious recipe from Chef Joe: Corn and Tomato Salad TPB’s own Chef Joe Ingredients 1 1/2 C black beans, cooked 1 C tomatoes, diced 1 C corn kernels, raw or cook and removed from cob 1/2 C cucumber, peeled, seeded, diced 1/4 C celery, diced 1/4 C scallions, diced ½ tsp. salt Pepper, to taste 1/4 C Cojita cheese, crumbled 1 1/2 tsp. lime juice lettuce washed and separate leaves Combine all salad ingredients except lettuce together, mix with the dressing (see below). Place lettuce on a chilled bowl top with the salad, garnish with sliced avocado. Avocado Vinaigrette ½ of avocado, ripe, peeled and pitted, diced 1

Why should you buy local produce ? When you support a grocery store chain that buys from large, industrial farms in other states (actually other countries in many cases), that grocery store company negotiates for the absolute lowest price it can get for the product/produce you are buying. NOT the price the farmer needs to survive. Did you know that North Carolina has lost 2,700 farms in the past five years? How sad is that? These local farmers literally could not make ends meet... they had to sell to developers and stop farming. Supporting our local NC farmers (and paying more for what they work so hard to grow) by being a member of The Produce Box means that: 1) you help the farmers afford to keep their farms and our beautiful countryside. Many of our farms are not more than 30-60 minutes away from the neighborhoods our members live in. 2) you get the freshest produce possible (most produce in stores has been trucked in from far away -- an average of 1300 miles,