As the environment becomes more of an issue in their daily lives, urban consumers are demanding more farm-fresh organic fruit and vegetables, say the owners of a fresh produce delivery business in Winnipeg.
Fresh Option Organic Delivery places a box filled with organic and local produce every week on the doorsteps of each of its 225 city customers at prices ranging from $30 to $60, depending on the size requested.
Founded in 2003 by former chefs Marnie and Kevin Feeleus, the business employs three full-time workers and four part-timers and keeps three vans on the road. Although the delivery service is Fresh Option’s mainstay, the company also fills commercial and wholesale orders.
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Marnie Feeleus said she was inspired to start the business after she realized the existing food supply system didn’t make sense, with local farmers growing low-value bulk commodities for export while high-value fruit and vegetables are imported long distances to feed the farmers’ urban neighbours.
“All these people in the city want locally grown organic food and they don’t know where to get it. They’re not going to go to each farm to get a couple of items,” she said.
“Also, there are all these farmers who just want to do what they do, which is grow stuff. They don’t want to be messing around trying to figure out how to sell in the city.”
Feeleus saw an opportunity to link both ends of the food chain, making sure farmers receive fair value for their production while satisfying the growing demand among city dwellers for “morally correct” food.
Many people are starting to question society’s tendency to low-ball such a basic requirement as food, she said, which defers the real cost to human health and the environment. Most of Fresh Option’s customers have young children and want to ensure that they develop good eating habits and get a variety of wholesome food.
“They want to be more ethical eaters and support local small-scale agriculture and a more sustainable way of farming, rural health and all sorts of different issues that have to do with food ethics,” she said, adding that concern about the environment is so strong these days that pushing it as a marketing strategy is no longer necessary.
Each delivery contains at least eight types of food: four fruits and four vegetables. Other items that can be added as options include whole wheat flour, fair trade coffee and bread.
Feeleus determines how much of each customers receive by looking at cost, availability and the need to keep them happy. Although she is a vegetarian, the service does handle dairy and eggs. With all the soybeans grown in Manitoba, a local organic tofu producer would be most welcome, she added.
“I put a lot of work into researching what goes into their box every week. I start with local and then plug the gaps with stuff that’s brought in. It’s like they set aside a food budget and give me the responsibility to spend it wisely.”
Buying decisions are made on an individual basis: item by item from week to week.
“I give first preference to the certified organic farms, but I also don’t exclude farms that are farming organically but aren’t yet certified,” she said, adding many urban consumers are more interested in buying from a farmer they know than a piece of paper.
“Some of the things I consider is whether it’s more important to buy a locally grown, non-certified but chemical-free tomato versus one shipped in from California that’s certified organic?” she said. “There’s all those issues of the fossil fuels used to bring it here.”
Because the delivery service operates year-round and people have grown accustomed to eating tropical fruit in the winter, by necessity a portion of the baskets’ contents, such as avocados and bananas, come from organic producers in Mexico and the southern United States. Finding such items as carrots, squash and potatoes in Manitoba is easy, she said, but more is needed.
“It’s as local as possible. I buy the closest one as possible and then if it’s not available within a 100 kilometre radius, then I go as far as I have to go to get it, with limitations,” she said.
“I won’t buy raspberries from Chile in January, for many reasons, aside from the ridiculous amount of transport required. Instead, I try to educate people about why they don’t need to eat raspberries in January and why they should freeze or jam the Manitoba ones in the summer. I try to educate people on how to extend their ability to eat local.”
Included with every food box is a newsletter that contains recipes, an overview of the produce and its origins and Feeleus’s weekly commentary on issues such as nutrition, fair trade and the environment.
Customers learn about the food Feeleus selected that week and why it was chosen, as well as the weather, market conditions and something about the farmer who grew the food. Because most customers are regular, long-term clients, they have become used to produce that may not be as esthetically perfect as what is found in conventional supermarkets.
“I encourage them to adapt their perspective of what good food looks like, and that it doesn’t have to look perfect to be better. Also, they like to be able to connect their environment and what’s happening around them and how it affects their food.”
Being in contact with farmers helps Fresh Option develop the supply end of the value chain. By drawing on her past experience as a chef, Feeleus can advise producers on market preferences and help them to avoid oversupply in certain types of crops.
“I go back to them and say, ‘everyone is growing beets this year, but I don’t have any broccoli. Here’s where the gaps are.’ They like that information because they want to grow things that they can sell.”
Some customers have requested “local only” boxes, but Feeleus questioned the viability of such an offering because a winter diet in Manitoba would consist mainly of onions, root vegetables and squash.
“I told them, ‘I can’t do it now, unless you want to get $30 worth of squash every single week.’ “
