Farm fresh food for the lazy

Each Thursday, the doorbell rings and there’s a guy out there with a bag full of fresh produce. Today it was potatoes, strawberries, oranges, onions, squash, celery and — what’s this? — Italian eggplant. Not sure what to do with that, but I’m sure we’ll think of something.

We signed up with this local outfit called Black Hog Farms. The way it works, we give them $20 or so a week and they give us whatever happens to be in season at that time. For a few bucks more, they’ll also deliver a selection of farm-raised chicken, beef and pork. The animals are supposed to be all free-range and grass-fed, and, I think, regularly serenaded with Chopin sonatas. Whatever the process, I can tell you that the produce and the meat are both noticeably better than what we’ve been getting at the supermarket.

I’m one of those people idealistic enough to like the concept of local food, but cheap enough to rue the cost and lazy enough to be put off by the inconvenience. When I go to the Winn Dixie and I’m hungry, all those yummy processed foods tend to call out louder than the broccoli or carrots. These Hot Pockets are local, right?

So getting healthy food delivered to my door is kind of a good thing. Some of this stuff I might rarely buy, but having it already there on the doorstep makes us a bit more imaginative about ways to use it up before it turns. It’s already become a point of pride to finish up the last of the produce just in time for the new delivery to arrive.

Is this the future of groceries? Could be, although it could also be kind of a fad. I read today that Black Hog Farms has big plans to expand to meet growing demand here around Jacksonville. That’s good news, I guess. But that’s probably how Tyson got started. At a certain point a chicken coop becomes a factory, a charming farm becomes a feedlot. And then we’re back where we started.

For now, though, we’re feeling a little more righteous and a little more healthy. Best of all, we’re making a lot fewer trips to the store.