Boston Organics Dogma Box

I posted this photo a couple of days ago letting everyone know that we got our first box of organic produce from Boston Organics and boy are we happy with it so far.  Let me tell you a little about the type of box that we are recieving, it’s called the Dogma Box.

According to Boston Organic’s website the Dogma Box “includes produce sourced as close to Boston as possible.  This is our only box that includes produce restricted geographically!  We source produce close to home and move furhter out until we can provide at least 8 unique items.”  Buying local and seasonal vegetables is an excellent way to reduce your toll on the environment.  One of the reasons that we like to shop at Whole Foods is that they label where all of their produce is from and we can then decide to purchase those items that have traveled the smallest distance.  The further a product travels to the grocery store the more gas and oil has been used to get to my plate.  Part of being Vegan for me is reducing my impact on the environment and buying local helps me do that.  In addition to all of this produce being local it is also all certified organic.

Currently here in the Boston area we are in the depths of winter so being able to get this organic seasonal produce is pretty amazing.  We have been very interested in joining a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) to get fruit and veggies during the spring and summer from a local farm. Unfortunately CSAs typically have a very large upfront cost, one that we always planned to save up for during the year, but never actually did.  Boston Organics has solved that problem for us, the Dogma Box is $29 per week and we pay on a weekly basis.  Plus, we are still supporting local farmers.  Currently we have the box scheduled to come to my office every other week, if we end up eating all of the veggies in a week we’ll switch it to every week.

This week’s box had a bounty of delicious winter produce:

• 1 Huge Butternut Squash from MA
• 1 lbs of Carrots from MA
• 1 lbs of Red Beets from MA
• 1 lbs of Watermelon Radishes from MA
• 1 lbs Purple Top/Scarlet Turnips from MA
• Some Sprouts from MA
• 1 lbs of Red Onions from NY
• 1.5 lbs of Sweet Potatoes from NH
• 2 lbs of Apples from VT

I used some of the red onions and carrots in last nights dinner, I had 2 apples with lunch today and I am excited to figure out how to use the rest of it.  Tonight I am gonna try to make a Butternut Squash Risotto.

One of the exiting things about this particular box from Boston Organics is that it will always be changing a little bit and we will get to taste the seasons as the come and go.  According to their website “in the summer time you’ll get a bountiful harvest of everything from lettuce to swiss chard, sweet corn to salad tomatoes.  As autumn takes hold the box contents start to include more root vegetables, winter squash and apples, and over the winter you’ll see storage crops like carrots, potatoes or onions.  Once spring has sprung, the growing season gets going again and the local box greens up with lots of early season produce.”  It is going to be a lot of fun to experiment with all of the different veggies we get.