Hello Folks,

Covid-19 update

Our big Locavore-wide update is avaliable to read here, and the biggest vegboxes update is here, but here are the headlines for this week. As always, the situation is evolving quickly, so we’d appreciate it if you could read the following carefully.

• Adjusting delivery days
  From this week, we’ll be moving some of our deliveries around in the week. We’ll be moving some Wednesday deliveries to Thursdays, and some Friday deliveries to Saturdays. This will let our packers spread the work out throughout the week, helping them practise social distancing as we can reduce the number of people required in the packing shed at any one time (we’re changing shift patterns). If you’re on a run that’s being moved you will get an email from us letting you know when to expect your order. If you don’t get an email, you can assume your orders will be on their usual day but feel free to check- just send us an email with the subject line “My next veg box delivery day”
• Please whitelist our email address
  We’ve had some problems with our emails going to peoples’ spam filters. At this time, it’s really important we can keep you up-to-date as our service changes to adapt to the pandemic, so please whitelist our email address to make sure you get our emails. That’s susbscribers@glasgowlocavore.org
• Streamlined service: no opt-out lists
  We’ve made the very difficult decision to temporarily pause opt-out lists, so you may receive items on them over the next few weeks. I know this is far from ideal, especially for those of you with allergies and intolerances. I hope you can leave anything you can’t eat outside a neighbour’s door with a note or a text to explain. Those of us who don’t like things (personally, I hate mushrooms- urgh!) might need to see this as an opportunity to find a recipe that makes them palatable (maybe with enough garlic and butter I could enjoy a mushroom). We’re doing this for a few reasons. Because the pandemic hitting in the middle of the hungry gap, it’s tricky to get the variety of veg we need to accomidate opt-out lists, as supermarkets snap up everything for sale. We’re hoping that the changing seasons and the end of panic buying will together mean this changes soon. We’re also trying to streamline things in the packing sheds to keep our staff safe, and to concentrate our efforts on providing veg to as many people as possible.
• EU Onions
  Our veg boxes always only contain veg from the UK- except this week, this wasn’t entirely possible. Due to some temporary shortages, we’ve had to include some onions from the Netherlands in our veg boxes. You might also get some lovely courgettes from Spain. This isn’t us breaking with our morals- we’re called Locavore, and we absolutely believe in eating locally. But these are extreme times and we need to be a little adaptable. Hopefully we’ll be back to normal next week!
• Please shop considerately on the Online Veg Box Shop
  We’re hoping to keep the Online Veg Box Shop well stocked over the next few weeks, but as we’re still seeing a hugely increased demand, your help with this is greatly appreciated. This also helps our drivers, who generally have to fit everyones’ boxes into their personal vehicles & carry your orders up steps & stairs, and our packers, who are working super hard to get your orders ready. Really huge orders may be refused and refunded. The most important things to keep in mind are:
  • No more than 2 of any item;
  • No more than 6 tins in total.
• Refunds
  We know it’s likely that we’re making a fair few mistakes at the moment- we’re working really hard to prevent them, but it’s a tricky time. Please be sure to double check your deliveries and email if you need your bill to be adjusted. It might take us a while to get back to you, but we will process your refund before the charges for March go through.
• We’re still very busy- but do get in touch!
  It’s still pretty busy in Veg Box HQ (which is now partly a digital space with pockets all over Glasgow). We’re training up some new admin staff, and they’re learning super quickly, so we’re hoping to be more on top of things soon. But it will still likely take a little longer for you to hear back from us just because there are so many more emails and so many more phone calls than usual. That said, please email! We love hearing from you, and want to make sure we’re doing everything we can to keep our service as good as possible during this difficult time. Now is also a great time to get involved with our Facebook group, where folks are swapping pickling and fermenting tips, garlicky recipes, and generally cooking up a storm.

The Nice Bit

We’ve had some sunny days lately, and it’s been lovely to watch them out my kitchen window. Some magpies are nesting on a tree just outside, paying visits to the seed we have laid out for them on the sill. Stuck inside, watching spring begin in the city is a great comfort, connecting us all via the views from our windows and the light that shines through them.

Spring can be a tricky time for cooking. It’s the hungry gap, so there isn’t all that much avaliable from the UK. Plus the sunshine calls for lighter, fresher dishes but it’s still cold enough to make warming, substantial meals a necessary comfort. Fresh, spiced soups are one good answer. Perhaps a carrot soup with coriander, cinnamon, and cumin; or a borscht with a swirl of sour cream. Buttery mashed swede with lots of black pepper, swapped out for potatoes, gives colour and springy sweetness to a shepherd’s pie (or serve it with sausages). Nigel Slater fries cubed swede in butter, then covers this in stock and lets it simmer until the swede is soft.

Soon our veg boxes and our plates will be full of fresh spring greens, but in the meantime there is still more to do with the root veg we have so much of. At the moment, any kind of plenty, anything there is enough of, is to be appreciated, however hard it can be to relish a parsnip in April.

Flowers

The beautiful, locally-grown, bee-friendly flowers our wonderful Kim grows are available on the Online Veg box shop or by subscription. They bring the scents of spring into your home, and are the prettiest way to cheer up. Email us for a dose of flowers with your veg box every week.

Complete a survey and you could win £20!

Over the last few weeks we’ve been updating you with surveys asking about your journey to our shop, or your views on social media, and we’ve mentioned that these are a build up to a bigger survey which is coming down the tracks. Well, it’s here, and we’d love it if you could take part.

In (an organic) nutshell, the aim of this survey is to explore customer relationships with Locavore – what makes you choose us over other businesses, how that works for you, and more general thoughts about how you feel about food and your community.

You can find more details about the Impacts project here, and the survey is available to complete here. It’s a bit longer than the surveys we’ve sent before, so you might want to make a cup of tea before you start; As a thank you for taking part we’ll be drawing one lucky contestant to receive a £20 Locavore gift card when the survey closes.

Good Food Fund

Thank you to everyone who has donated to the Good Food Fund over the past few weeks. It’s much needed and greatly appreciated.

If you’re in a position to, please consider donating to our Good Food Fund, which supports food banks and other schemes that fight food poverty. You can donate weekly by emailing us to add a donation onto your subscription, or you can make one-off donations on the Online Veg Box Shop. It’s important to look out for everyone in times like these. 

Monthly Specials

Monthly specials are currently suspended, except for meat boxes. We aren’t currently adding the monthly specials to subscriptions.

Check out storage guidance here for helpful tips and tricks on how to prolong the life of your fresh produce. If you’re wondering where your veg comes from, have a look at these maps. You can also join your fellow subscribers over in the Facebook group for lots of tips, tricks, and recipe ideas.

To contact us, ring 0141 378 1672 or email us at subscribers@glasgowlocavore.org

In the veg boxes this week:

Subject to last minute changes

Small veg box	Farm	Organic Certifier
Potatoes (Carolus)	Chapel Farm	Soil Association
Onions	Netherlands	Caae
Carrots	Chapel Farm	Soil Association
Mushrooms	Orchard Organics, Armagh	Soil Association

Standard veg box	Farm	Organic Certifier
Potatoes (Carolus)	Chapel Farm	Soil Association
Onions	Netherlands	Caae
Carrots	Chapel Farm	Soil Association
Beetroot	Chapel Farm	Soil Association
Parsnips	Farringtons Farm, Sailsbury	Soil Association

Large veg box	Farm	Organic Certifier
Potatoes (Carolus)	Chapel Farm	Soil Association
Onions	Netherlands	Caae
Carrots	Chapel Farm	Soil Association
Beetroot	Chapel Farm	Soil Association
Parsnips	Farringtons Farm, Sailsbury	Soil Association
Swede	Sampsons, Cornwall	Soil Association

Extra Large veg box	Farm	Organic Certifier
Potatoes (Carolus)	Chapel Farm	Soil Association
Onions	Netherlands	Caae
Carrots	Chapel Farm	Soil Association
Beetroot	Chapel Farm	Soil Association
Parsnips	Farringtons Farm, Sailsbury	Soil Association
Swede	Sampsons, Cornwall	Soil Association
Baby leeks	Royal Oak, Scarisbrick	Soil Association

Small fruit bag	Farm / Origin	Organic Certifier
Royal Gala apples	Italy	CCPB
Lemons	Italy	Demeter

Medium fruit bag	Farm / Origin	Organic Certifier
Royal Gala apples	Italy	CCPB
Lemons	Italy	Demeter
Lanelate Oranges	Spain	Caae

Large fruit bag	Farm / Origin	Organic Certifier
Royal Gala apples	Italy	CCPB
Lemons	Italy	Demeter
Lanelate Oranges	Spain	Caae
White grapefruit	Spain	Caae

Extra large fruit bag	Farm / Origin	Organic Certifier
Royal Gala apples	Italy	CCPB
Lemons	Italy	Demeter
Lanelate Oranges	Spain	Caae
White grapefruit	Spain	Caae

Small supplementary veg	Origin	Organic Certifier
Vine tomatoes	Spain	Caae
Green peppers	Spain	Caae

Standard supplementary veg	Origin	Organic Certifier
Endive	Locavore Left Field	Soil Association
Vine tomatoes	Spain	Caae
Aubergines	Spain	Caae

Enjoy!

The Locavore Team