Good Food Box

Fresh from the farm!

 

Finally, finally I got around to ordering a Good Food Box.

“The Good Food Box is a project of FoodShare Toronto, a Toronto non-profit organization whose mission is to work with communities to improve access to affordable and healthy food. Working “from field to table,” FoodShare runs many programs that focus on the entire system that puts food on our tables: from the growing, processing and distribution of food to its purchasing, cooking and consumption.”

~ from the FoodShare brochure

 

Biker was making fun of how excited I was, but it’s such a great program. In our area, we only get the Box every two weeks. I go pick it up every other Thursday at the closest drop-off to me (about 15 mins. away). We decided to go for the Small Organic Box ($24) instead of the Small Good Food Box ($13) since it’s not every week. We’d just do what we regularly do on the off weeks and buy a mix of organic (especially for Freestyle) and regular produce at the store.

 

 

Here’s what we got in our box this week:

• 1 Bunch Organic Bananas (Fair Trade)
• 1 Bunch Organic Broccoli *
• 1 Organic Cabbage *
• 1 Bunch Organic Garlic Green *
• 1 Bunch Organic Kale Green *
• 1 Head Organic Lettuce *
• 1 Bunch Organic Onion Fresh *
• 4 Organic Oranges
• 3 Organic Pears Packham
• 1 lb Organic Zucchini *

The starred items are local produce, picked up directly from the farms (within 50KM from our location). All of that organic food for $24! It would have been so much more if I had bought it at the grocery store!

 

Eventually I would like to start a small garden in our little backyard. Growing our own fruits and vegetables would be a great learning experience for Freestyle. She would get to see the entire life cycle of plants and start gaining an understanding of the process of how we get our food. This is also an important step towards understanding nutrition and healthy eating.

In Montessori Elementary classes, there is a lesson called “What Does the Farmer Need?”  The purpose is to show the children how we get our food and also begin an appreciation about how many people work together to do this work.

 

Photo Credit

 

We have cards that depict the various people involved and lay them out as we discuss their involvement and the process of making bread. The people include: the Farmer, Transporter, Miller, Packager, Transporter, Baker, Oven Tender, Transporter, and Green Grocer. By the end, all the cards will be laid out in a long line and we look back and see how many people worked so hard to get our food to us.

 

Other ways to get children to involved and engaged:

• Grow fruits and veggies in your home. If you have a small yard or no yard, consider container gardening. Talk to experienced gardeners about which are the easiest to grow!
• Join a food box program. In the GTA we have Good Food Box, Front Door Organics, Fresh City Farms, and many more!
• Visit a local farm.
• Pick-your-own fruit.
• Take them grocery shopping and take the time to talk to them about the food that you are purchasing. This will probably mean that you’ll have to give yourself a lot of extra time at the store! Then Involve them in meal preparation so that they see how whole foods become full meals.
• If that is too much, teach your child to prepare his/her own snacks. Something simple like cutting up vegetables and fruit.
• Farmer’s Markets.
• (For older children) Teach them to read the Nutrition Facts on labels. Depending on their age, you can talk about how our bodies need a balance of different nutrients, minerals, healthy fats, etc. to keep healthy and look at the facts on the labels and ingredient list.
• Also take a look at the PLU codes on produce:

Photo Credit

 

Any other ideas? 🙂