Buying From Farm Shops and Small Producers

FOOD · GLOBAL

Buying From Farm Shops and Small Producers

What you are paying for, seasonality, storage and food safety

Buying direct from producers changes what you get and how it behaves, and both are worth understanding before the first delivery arrives.

What the money buys

Traceability, shorter supply chains and varieties chosen for flavour rather than for shelf life and uniform packing. Produce picked riper does not travel as well, which is why it tastes different and keeps less long.

Ask which farm, which variety and when it was picked, since a supplier who can answer is telling you something real.

Seasonality

Buying what is in season is cheaper, better and needs less intervention to grow. A box scheme forces the issue by sending you what is actually ready, which is the point of one.

Expect to cook things you would not have chosen, which is where most people either enjoy it or cancel.

Storage

Most fruit and vegetables keep better in the fridge; potatoes, onions and bananas do not and should be kept apart from each other. Herbs keep for weeks stood in water with a bag over them.

Unwashed vegetables keep considerably longer than washed ones. Leave soil on until you use them.

Cheese and dairy

Unpasteurised cheese is a legitimate product and is not recommended in pregnancy or for anyone immunocompromised. Check the label rather than assuming.

Keep cheese wrapped in paper rather than cling film, in the least cold part of the fridge.

Meat and fish

Check whether it arrives chilled or frozen and how long it is good for. Keep raw meat on the bottom shelf, never refreeze thawed raw meat, and freeze in portions with the date.

Supporting producers

Buying direct returns a far larger share of the price to the grower than a supermarket sale does. Ordering consistently matters more to a small producer than a large occasional order.

Ask what is glut and cheap that week, which is frequently the best thing on the list.

Food safety on delivery

Check chilled items are cold on arrival and refrigerate them immediately. If a delivery has been left in the sun for hours, contact the supplier rather than assuming it is fine.

Unpasteurised dairy and raw meat need particular care with storage and separation from ready-to-eat food.

Cooking what arrives

Learn three or four ways to use anything that turns up regularly — a soup, a traybake, a slaw and something braised covers most vegetables. Root vegetables and brassicas keep for weeks and give you time.

Freeze surplus rather than watching it go over, and make stock from trimmings.

Cost

Compare per kilogram rather than per box, and count what you actually eat. A box that produces waste is not value however good the produce was.

Waste

Plan meals around what needs using first, since a box scheme fails when it becomes a compost queue.

WHERE TO BUY

Ready to shop Farmfetch? Use the link below to visit the official store.

→ Shop Farmfetch — official site

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