Organic Food Delivered to the Home

Local Delivery Options

The best choices for organic food delivered to the home are local or regional operations that work directly with farmers or with a grocery store to get organic food and products to customers.

Pros of Buying Locally

A local choice is the best option for a number of reasons:

• Cost: The price of shipping will be a lot less if you are dealing with a local company. Many small farm operations don't charge for shipping at all.
• Freshness: What you can buy from local growers or suppliers will always be fresher than what you can buy from a grocery store. You'll be sure you're getting produce that is in season and that was picked recently.
• Environmental impact: Yes, organic foods in general have a lower environmental impact because they are produced without pesticides and other chemicals. However, all that gets negated if your organics have to travel 1,000 miles to get to your plate. Buying locally means less fuel is needed for your organic food delivered to the home, which is always a benefit.
• Supporting local agriculture: The organic movement goes hand-in-hand with the idea that we need to support our local, small farmers who are doing the right thing for us and for the planet by growing organic foods.

Cons of Local Delivery

There are some potential negatives to a local delivery program, but not many:

• Lack of variety: Usually such programs are run by individual farmers or cooperatives of farmers who live in the same general area. There are only so many things that can be grown where you live, so you might not be able to get tropical fruits or other produce from these home delivery companies.
• Seasonal swings: Again, because of your local weather, the winter may be a very dry time when it comes to food choices. The home delivery of organic foods might even stop for the winter if farmers don't have anything to sell.
• May be limited to produce: Small programs run by local farmers may not have meat or other products to sell, but you can still make a dent in your shopping list by using these groups.

How to Find Home Delivery of Organic Foods

Whether you're looking for local or national home delivery of organic foods, the Internet can be a big help. Type in your location and organic food delivery and you'll quickly be able to see if any options are available.

You may also be able to find a local delivery company by checking with your local organic or natural food store. Also look into community supported agriculture programs (CSAs), which may have delivery built into the cost of a subscription.

If you're looking for nationwide delivery of organic foods, there are a couple of different options.

• Boxed Greens, based in Arizona, delivers produce boxes nationwide. They also sell organic meat and poultry, dairy, juice, dry goods and other groceries. Orders are shipped three days a week overnight. Shipping can run up to $72.95, depending on what you're ordering.
• Diamond Organics sells all sorts of organic grocery items, including prepared meals, meat, ice cream, produce, wine, flowers, baked goods and gift baskets. Items are shipped overnight most days. You can also create standing orders shipped once a week, once a month or whenever you like. Shipping starts at $25 plus $1.20 a pound.

Given the price of shipping, it makes sense to try to find a more local company to meet your home delivery of organic foods needs. However, if you don't live anywhere near such a program and have the budget to pay for shipping, these nationwide programs are a good alternative.