The local grocery and food delivery options at our disposal are working well for most. But there’s nothing like a box of fresh, local produce grown in SoFla soil. Usually, greenmarkets are the place for those. Now you have a chance to buy directly from the farms themselves.
I’ve bought all kinds of food from some of these sellers. The product is terrific, the service is outstanding and we are helping keep folks in jobs and in business. Because sometimes the box of fruits or vegetables is so large, or because there’s a minimum to be spent before you get free delivery, contact a neighbor or friend and agree to split some of this bounty. It’s easy to separate orders, leave a box or bag on your front porch and let your friend pick it up. Social distancing all the way. Then your biggest problem will be finding recipes to help use all the great produce, meat, honey, fruits that you have in your kitchen.
Fruits & vegetables
The box pictured is from East Coast Farms & Vegetables in Lantana. Earlier this week, I got all of this for $10 (cash only): potatoes, lemons, limes, oranges, corn, onions, squash, zucchini, bell peppers, eggplant, jalapeños. Each day, the list of what’s in the boxes changes and is noted on the Facebook page. https://www.facebook.com/East-Coast-Farms-Vegetables Some days, a $5 box of fruit is also available (recently: 2 mangoes, 1 pineapple, 1 box of blueberries). You really can’t beat these deals.
I sat in my car in line for total of 40 minutes. You can buy more than one box. The line moves fast, you open your passenger-side window to order boxes and pay, open your trunk for delivery and you’re done. No contact – but bring a mask with you out of consideration for the workers anyway. The line opens at 9:30 a.m. daily and goes until the boxes run out, or until 4:30 p.m.
Meat and other products
Mike Saperstein, owner of Sunshine Provisions wholesaler, is selling directly to the public now. If his name sounds familiar, it’s because he was founder and owner of Boca Raton’s Rebel House restaurant, recently sold to Eric Baker.
Saperstein’s company is in Broward County, but delivers to Palm Beach County. His products include all kinds of meat (he says the rumored meat shortage is not happening), poultry, eggs, dairy, seafood, honey, produce and more. I have purchased his meats and poultry and found them to be top quality. Plus, they are shrink wrapped and easy to freeze. https://www.sunshineprovisions.com/
An updated list of active Florida farms
This is a list from UF IFAS Extension Palm Beach County- Vegetables and Tropical Fruits and the Florida Farm Bureau Federation, which says the following Palm Beach County farms have been offering direct-to-consumer sales, among others:
Alderman Farms.
Bedner’s Farm Fresh Market
Branch: A Family of Farms
Erneston & Sons Produce
East Coast Farms & Vegetables
Farmhouse marketplace – Palm Beach
Hundley Farms
J&J Family of Farms
Mecca Family Farms Ltd.
Pioneer Growers
Swank Specialty Produce
TKM Farms
Wilkinson-Cooper Produce Inc
Yee Farms, Inc.
The Florida Fruit & Vegetable Association is working on updating an interactive map to show where local farms are offering direct-to-consumer sales. However, the FFVA map (linked below) may not include the latest information for Palm Beach County, so it’s best to call or check each farm’s Facebook page for the most up-to-date information. Prices, produce supply, and hours of distribution change daily.
See below for URL:
https://www.ffva.com/consumersales
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