Seasonal Roots — Local services in Richmond

While it may be a bit on the expensive side for what you receive, I am a strong advocate for supporting local businesses and farmers, so I didn't mind splurging a little extra. Even though I could easily head to the farmers market and find the same items for a lower price, I still decided to make this purchase and supplement with other items from the market.

However, I have grown weary of consistently receiving produce that appears to be past its prime and on the verge of spoiling. It makes me wonder if these items were leftover from the previous week's market and are being passed off to us this week. My bok choy arrives with a yellowing tint, but when I see the fresh bok choy at the market on the same day, it looks vibrant and appealing. The strawberries are overly ripe to the point of being mushy and inedible.

While advertised as "farm fresh," a significant portion of the produce falls short of even basic store quality. At least I have the option to compost it, but it's disheartening to think about the cost of simply composting it. This week's asparagus and potatoes were satisfactory, but the fact that I spent $40 on just those items is quite a hit to my wallet. I can't afford to keep purchasing items that end up straight in the trash.

It's disappointing that the season has just begun and I'm already feeling let down. Typically, this feeling comes later in the season, prompting me to cease my purchases until fall. I've reached my limit with seasonal roots...

Seasonal Roots is a wonderful, local to regional, home delivery CSA. We've been members for about four years and we love getting local fruits, veggies, meats, cheeses, breads and dairy fresh to our doorstep once a week. We really look forward to our weekly box, and plan our meals around what's fresh.

The ability to see & select what items we want ahead of time is absolutely critical - we wouldn't belong otherwise. We order on a Friday, get confirmation Monday, and receive our box the following Wednesday. Pre-ordering doesn't stop the occasional bonus surprise. This week, we got extra peppers and broccoli in our box. The week before I think it was extra carrots and apples, and we got some surplus butternut squash earlier this fall. All very much appreciated. The web interface is easy to use and the ability to suspend deliveries from time to time when we're out of town is also really great.

The only criticism I have is that for prepared foods, the nutritional label is not provided. For anyone with food sensitivities or allergies, or on a restricted diet of some kind, this could be an issue. I am on a low sodium diet and to find the sodium information, I have to google the name of the farm/producer, and find the product myself. Usually this just means I don't order any prepared foods, but a due diligence on the part of Seasonal Roots and the farmers/artisans would be...

I used to be a member when I was a single dude (before it was even called Seasonal Roots) and loved the experience, but found I was getting too much to eat by myself so I eventually stopped. Fast-forward to today and I've got a small family to feed and am so happy I rediscovered them.

I think my biggest concern was that it would be really costly to get these deliveries, but in reality, I'm spending the same as I would on a 'mini' grocery trip, but obviously with much better food (that feels good to buy!). Not to mention the occasional freebies they throw in the baskets ;)

I appreciate two things here:

1. Access to local farmer's market prepared foods that I no longer have enough time to buy in person. Examples include: local sausages, the best kim chi in town (Soulsmith), local breads (even pizza dough), etc. It really feels like I'm getting a full spread of food to meal prep with.

2. These boxes force you to cook and eat stuff you normally wouldn't try. I think that's a huge benefit, because it's so easy to keep buying the same 5 vegetables every time you grocery shop. Being forced out of your comfort zone is a good thing! But also, you can just buy the same 'normal' stuff in these boxes if you want.

Anyway, huge fan, would recommend to anyone on the fence that...