Door to Door Organics Review: Why Wednesdays Are Our New Favorite Days

If you've been following my Facebook Page, you might have been witness to my utter joy and glee over my first Door to Door Organics delivery. I wanted to share a little bit more about this company, because I am ALL about helping other busy moms. I want to make sure everyone knows that Door to Door Organics did not ask me to write this review. I purchased a box with my own money based off the recommendation of a friend, and am really just thrilled about it. This service is a top-notch way to get your hands on quality organic produce, even in the off season!

Living in the Garden State, we are lucky to have amazing produce available to us for a few months out of the year. If you look hard enough, you can find quality organic farmers in the area with great produce. CSAs (Community Supported Agriculture) are also gaining traction in my area during the growing and harvest season. However, the winter is brutal here, organic produce from the store is pricy, and (at my local grocery store, at least) the pickings are slim. I spend at least 20 minutes at my local grocery digging through the produce to find stuff good enough to bring home.

We also garden at home. Last year I grew mostly late spring/summer veggies, but this year I am going to try my hand at colder weather gardening. Because we grow a lot of our own veggies each summer, joining a CSA would be a bit of overkill and an added cost.

Enter Door to Door Organics. My amazing solution.

Sign up is fairly simple: you go to the website, enter your zip code to make sure they'll deliver to you (they are set up in our tri-state area, Chicago, Colorado, Kansas City, Michigan, and Milwaukee), choose your box size (four different sizes!), what kind of box you want (veggie/fruit, just veggie, or just fruit), choose how often you'd like to receive a box (weekly or biweekly), provide shipping and billing info, and boom--you're done. You'll get your box on the scheduled day, and billed the following day.

Our delivery day is Wednesday. I came home from work on Wednesday to my produce waiting by my front door for me (psssst: if you leave a cooler outside, they'll put your stuff in the cooler for you! If you leave instructions on where to leave the box outside, they'll leave the box where you instruct them! So helpful!).

Your produce arrives in a cardboard box. You are encouraged to leave the used box outside on your next delivery day and they will recycle it. Hooray for companies that care about the environment!

The shipment was packed carefully and was still cold. I could see no visible damage from shipment. I am impressed.

Peyton immediately grabbed a pear and chowed down. What? A child voluntarily--nay, excitedly--eating fruit? I love this company.

Peyton was as excited as I was about all the stuff we got, and helped me unpack it, wash it, and store it. I can't get my three-year old that excited when I come home from the grocery store!

We ordered the Small Box for $26.99, and this was a LOT of produce. They even snuck in a couple extra pieces!

This is a great solution for winter. I am getting quality certified organic produce delivered straight to my door (FREE SHIPPING!), which will take an easy 20-30 minutes off my weekly shopping trip. In the summer, I'll change my box over to a fruit-only box since we'll be growing our own veggies.

I love it so much I bumped my biweekly shipment up to a weekly one. You had me at hello, Door to Door Organics.

And because I love lists, here are some pros and cons of using Door to Door Organics vs. other traditional means of getting produce.

Pros:
-Sign up was SUPER easy

-I love the flexibility--I can change the frequency of my delivery, change the size of the box, the types of box, or hold or cancel my order easily and without penalty.

-Substitutions. You'll get an email way ahead of time with what to expect in your box that week-- and you substitute up to five items. If you get beets and don't like beets, no worries--just pick something else from the list you'll like or need. You can do this up until noon the day before your delivery comes.

-This company is environmentally conscious

-Did you know you can also grocery shop straight from their website and they'll delivery your groceries with your box? Be still my heart. I haven't used this feature yet, but I intend to do so soon. You can also add grocery items to your order until noon the day before your delivery, and it will be on your doorstep the next day.

-You can access your account and get recipes you can make based on what you've received in your box.

-Produce is certified organic and locally sourced (as best they can--obviously you aren't going to get Jersey produce in January!)

-Delivery is free!

-The variety is awesome. I think this will be a great way to get the family to try new things if we don't decide to substitute for something else.

-You can cancel at any time, with no penalty

Cons:
-$26.99 for a small box of produce might seem like a big expense, but I used to spend a lot of money each week on crappy produce from my local grocery store that goes bad in a day. I chose a size that will ensure that everything gets eaten and nothing gets wasted.

-My local CSA is slightly cheaper per delivery ($20 per box based on same size), but the CSA doesn't offer the kind of flexibility I can get with Door to Door Organics. No changing box sizes, no substituting items. And when the CSA season is over, I am back to square one...nowhere to get some decent produce.

-It can SOMETIMES be a little more expensive than my local grocery store, BUT I can get things through this service that I can't get at my grocery store. Things I am willing to pay the extra cost for.

Bottom line is: using a service like this depends on your needs as a family. For us, this is a simple, convenient way to ensure we are getting organic produce, reducing food waste, and it fits in with our busy lifestyle.