Reviews for: The Produce Box, LLC
I was satisfied with that question till I started gleaning for the Inter Faith Food Shuttle at some of their farms and then wanted to compare the Produce Box farms to the farms the Inter Faith Food Shuttle was using. So since the only thing on the Produce Box's website about their farmers other than random names of people as opposed to the farm's name itself, I asked the Produce Box who their 35 farmers were that they quoted on the site. I then got an answer that they don't publish that kind of information on the website, so I asked for a list on a sheet of paper, to which they replied that they have it in their newsletters. After looking at the newsletter I received the past two weeks I didn't see any farm names at all. So I asked again for the farm names to which I got the reply, why are you curious? After I told them I was just interested for educational purposes they never responded. I contacted them a few more times and after being ignored I gave up.
I have now looked at other sites like Back Yard Produce: http://www.byproduce.com/ as well as Papa Spud's Produce Box: http://papaspuds.com/ both of which name each farm on their website along with telling where each piece of produce is coming when you are buying it. At least with these companies who offer the same door to door produce service you can actually see where your local food is coming from. The Produce Box seems to have something to hide, it is just as cryptic as going to the store and buying produce there, you don't know exactly where it is coming from or if it is actually local. Best to go with either of the two companies mentioned above.
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Hi there, Hmmm. I'm not sure if I recognize your name but I read these exact comments in emails to our company a few weeks ago. Different name, though. Weird. You know, one of the things we are most proud of is that we are one of the only programs in our area that supports ONLY local farms in NC. Many other "produce delivery services" buy from across the US, including those you mention. I just don't think it's fair to put NC farmers up against other farmers who have the same product...I'm pretty committted to supporting our neighbors. So it's ironic that you lodge this complaint..and unfortunate. Also, I have a copy of an email I personally sent to you 2 days after the email you reference, inviting you to the HUB (warehouse) to meet us and see the packing process, meet some farmers. I mentioned I thought it would be "fun" to see the process. Then,I contacted you personally to see what happened after my last email, and left a voicemail, to which I did not get a response. So...not sure what to do now. We don't have access to thousands of dollars to put towards webmasters and IT people...and so that's part of the reason we don't have all farmers listed yet.. we are so busy getting the produce out quickly that we just haven't done it, honestly. Once again, I'll invite you to come to the HUB. Rather than posting negative reviews on websites (i think this is the second one) You may reach me personally at courtney@theproducebox.com. Thank you, Courtney
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Oh! I forgot to mention that a good way to see what we're all about is to check out our FACEBOOK page and read what our other members have to say as well..that might be a more balanced view and help you to see that most members are happy with the way we conduct ourselves. Not all, of course...we're definitely not perfect, but we try REALLY hard to do the best we can for our members. Thanks! Courtney