With summer vegetables and fruits here, why not sign up to receive a local food box? Your family can join a food box service or this can be a project to share in your doctor office. This is a fun, healthy, and convenient service that tens of thousands of families have joined. Food boxes are available in most parts of the worldwide, particularly in urban areas.
So what is a “food box”? When you sign up on line, you will receive a box or bag of healthy, farm-fresh foods on a regular schedule. Some food box programs deliver directly to your home or business, including to your doctor office. Sometimes there is a scheduled drop-off at a local store or community center.
You likely will find several services in your area. You can locate these by searching on the internet using search terms such as “food boxes” or “CSA” together with the name of your city. One example is the international company at www.hellofresh.com, though you may find an offering that is very local to your town. You can choose how often to receive your “box” (weekly, monthly, etc.), what types of foods you want to receive (fruits and vegetables, meat products, products such as cheeses, honey, olives, soaps, healthy snacks, etc.), and what you can afford to spend. You might start small and see how the food box program grows on you! You can cancel at any time, and suspend your box for vacations.
Your delivery will emphasize what is very fresh and local, generally grown within a few kilometers of your home. You will find items that are familiar to you and sometimes a surprise —a type of bright bean you’ve never seen before, or perhaps a funny-looking new fruit. But don’t worry about these surprises because the food box folks will slip into each box—or list on their website– recipes and tips for preparing the foods of the week.
The food box concept is part of a bigger idea called, CSA, which stand for, “Community-Supported Agriculture” or “Community-Shared Agriculture”. CSA means that a network of individuals or associations tries to support local farmers. The goal is to keep farmers in business so that your region will benefit from access to healthy, fresh foods, benefit from fresh air, and benefit from attractive recreation areas for families. The CSA concept is summarized in the advice to “Eat your view!”, meaning to eat foods from farms that you can see and enjoy in your daily, local life.
When you or your doctor office joins a community food box, you are becoming part of the worldwide Community Supported Agriculture movement. When you share this idea with your patients, you are helping them to adopt healthy lifestyle and helping their natural environment. So go ahead: “Eat you view”!
