RECYCLING NEWS** Blue Apron has postage -free recycling - print your label and schedule a USPS (US Postal Service pickup). SunBasket has UPS free pickup and return of recycled boxes and fillers IF you don't have recycling in your area. The both accept clean, full, defrosted ice packs by return. It looks like Hello Fresh, Green Chef. Others, like Purple Carrot have all begun recycling efforts in the ensuing years since I wrote this article.
Here's a link to an interesting article with some comments that resonate with others about the carbon footprint that results from these food services. In defense, I wasted a lot more food, actual food, when we weren't using these services. Let's face it, most of us don't buy three stalks of asparagus, 1/4 of a red cabbage, two tablespoons of demi-glace. One comment claims that a cookbook and a farmer's market will do the same for you for 1/5 the price. Au contraire, I say. We use the boxes over and over for storage, for transport, etc. Yes, we do throw some of the cardboard in recycling, but we throw a ton more away at my place of work than I do at home. The ice packs are used over and over when I bring food elsewhere. I think if you live life wisely (and perhaps raising your own food, slaughtering your own animals, and canning and preserving every morsel is the wisest but totally impractical for my family), this service can actually reduce the carbon footprint that others are complaining about.
We've recently been addicted to Purple Carrot. Go figure! We are carnivores but we love the three nights of vegan meals. The taste? Amazing. The ingredients? Very varied and experimental for us. The health? Go, Purple Carrot! One of my colleagues is vegan and she was so excited to try this because she spent so much money and time planning her weekly menus. I figured I'd give it a try to include more legumes and other foods that we didn't include in our diet. So far, after a few months? We are exclusively Purple Carrot three days a week. It's a bit more expensive, but delicious and healthy. It does have an Asian focus, but many of the food services do. You can choose between Chef's Choice, Hi-Protein or Quick and Easy. We choose Chef's Choice. They are all $12 per meal ($72 a week.) You also have the Tom Brady TB12 meals for $13 per meal (high-performance.) We are stickin' to Chef's Choice and we love them.These are older updates:
For quality, price, taste, and wholesomeness, we do still feel loyal to Blue Apron for carnivores and pescivores. For awhile, we mixed it up and ordered in a four-week pattern from one or the other. (Blue Apron one week, Marley Spoon the next week, Green Chef the third week, and Hello Fresh the fourth).
Note that they all have their strengths: Peach Dish has a terrific southern style, Just Add Cooking is local to Boston, Marley Spoon has some great ingredients, Hello Fresh lists allergens and removes most of them from their recipes (gluten and nuts, for instance), and Green Chef used all organic ingredients. Sun Basket offers paleo options. However, Blue Apron is consistently good, especially for the price, recipe cards, and packing.
At first, I was reluctant to sign up for Blue Apron, a home-cooked meal delivery service that a half-dozen of my colleagues had subscribed to last summer, 2014. I dug in my heels and said, "What? Why?" Gerry likes to shop daily, after all. We both love to cook. Why did we need a service to choose our meals and send us food?
Well, one night in the fall of 2014, Gerry (who up until now has planned meals during the week; I planned weekend meals) was especially uninspired. He brought home a small jar of ordinary pasta sauce and a box of store-brand spaghetti from the grocery story. For dinner. That's it. No fresh herbs. No unusual spices. No greens. And certainly no fresh vegetables.
