Our organic box scheme
Growing Communities' box scheme provides a delicious weekly selection of seasonal organic produce from £6 per week.
We are committed to cutting food miles and supporting small sustainable farmers. We source as much local produce as possible: our salad bags are grown on our own Soil Association market gardens in Hackney, our potatoes and apples come from small farms in Kent 
and Essex and our oranges come from cooperatives in Italy and Spain. Last year, 81% of our vegetables and 23% of the fruit in our fruit bags came direct from local farms while overall 87% of our vegetables came from the UK. We never buy air-freighted produce or produce from heated greenhouses. Only our Fair Trade organic bananas come from outside Europe.
We were London's first box scheme and now help to support over 25 organic farmers and growers by providing them with a regular outlet and a fair price for their produce. The box scheme accepts Healthy Start vouchers and we offer a discount for pensioners.
The scheme is collection only to cut down on pollution and food miles - it's also a good way of meeting other people on the scheme. We have seven community pick-up points and we use either Maisie, our electric "cow" milkfloat or a bike trailer to get your produce there. We provide a weekly newsletter with recipes and a full list of where your fruit and vegetables have come from. You can also check what's in the bags on-line before collecting.
If you want to join our box scheme for a regular order or for a one-month trial click here.
For a list and map of our pick-up points around Hackney click here.
More than a box scheme
When you sign up to a regular fruit or veg bag you become a member of Growing Communities. Members can attend the AGM and have a say in how the box scheme is run. Box scheme members usually pay by standing order which allows us to plan ahead and helps keep admin costs down. Being a member of our box scheme is not just about delicious fruit and vegetables, it's about being part of an organisation that's trying to change what we eat, how we eat and how it's farmed.
Fruit and veg bag options:
Standard veg bag
£44 per calendar month, (equivalent cost per week; £10.15). This bag contains around 8-9 varieties of seasonal produce. Standard bags always include carrots, onions, potatoes and two greens, (eg.spinach, chard, savoy cabbage) plus a selection of seasonal vegetables. Click here to see an outline of what's in the standard veg bag this week.
No potatoes standard veg bag
£50 per calendar month (equivalent cost per week: £11.54). This bag contains 8-9 varieties of veg including a leafy green vegetable instead of potatoes. Greens cost more to buy than potatoes which is why this bag is slightly more expensive than the standard veg bag.Click here to see an outline of what's in the no-potato standard veg this week.
Small veg bag
£26 per calendar month (equivalent cost per week: £6).This bag contains around 6 varieties of seasonal produce. Small bags always include potatoes and carrots and have onions every other week. They always have one green item per week (e.g. spinach, chard, spring greens) plus 2 or 3 varieties of other seasonal vegetables.
Click here to see an outline of what's in the small veg bag this week.
Standard fruit bag
£35 per calendar month (equivalent cost per week: £8.07) The standard fruit bag has 5-7 varieties of UK and European seasonal fruit each week. These are a combination of the following depending on seasonal availability: pears, grapes, oranges, clementines, Fairtrade bananas, kiwi fruits, plums, cherries, peaches, nectarines, limes, lemons, grapefruit, apples.
Click here to see an outline of what's in the standard fruit bag this week
Small fruit bag
£19 per calendar month, (equivalent cost per week: £4.38).The small fruit bag contains 3 to 4 varieties of UK and European seasonal fruit each week. Fruit bags contain a combination of the following depending on seasonal availability: pears, grapes, oranges, clementines, Fairtrade bananas, kiwi fruits, plums, cherries, peaches, nectarines, limes, lemons, grapefruit, apples.
Click here to see an outline of what's in the small fruit bag this week