Everything Organic Sitka Alaska - (907) 738-0044

Organic produce shares available weekly.

EVERYTHING ORGANIC SITKA ALASKA

How it started:

About 10 years ago I became frustrated trying to feed my family organic food in Sitka. A lot of the organic produce I was buying was very poor quality and didn’t last very long in my refrigerator. Which meant I was throwing a lot away, which disgusted me. Not only was it very expensive, but also, after I brought it home, we couldn’t eat it. Needless to say, I was frustrated. I am sure I’m not the only person in this town who has experienced this. I looked forward to visits from Chelan, but his selection included very little organic produce at the time. So, while the quality was much better, and I could buy more than just enough for today and maybe tomorrow, I was still feeding my family chemical laden food.

One day I had an idea, What If ??

What if I gathered a few friends and we bought cases of organic produce together and split them up between us? Could we do it?

I had gotten a case of delicious organic mangoes from Chelan, which happened to have a phone number on the side of the box. I excitedly called the number, thinking my idea might just work. A nice man answered the phone and informed me that if I could buy a whole truckload of mangoes, then I could buy directly from them. I had an idea and I wasn’t going to give up that easily, so I pressed him for more information, like whom does he sell to? Is there anyone out there that would sell to me? He led me to a few places, one of which we are still getting our produce from today. The Organically Grown Company is a coop in Portland, OR. It is owned by the farmers growing our food, and the people working in the warehouse and office that make it available to us. I LOVE working with The Organically Grown Company. Our sales rep’s name is Lucas and he is very sympathetic to the challenges we face living on an island in Alaska. He has always been encouraging and helpful. He is very good at knowing what to send to Alaska, what will make the trip and what won’t. I really appreciate him.

My idea worked!

So, I found a distributer that would sell to me, I gathered a few people, and we started splitting cases of produce in my living room every other week. It was working! Better than I had even hoped. I marked the cost of the produce up just enough to feed my family. In exchange for my organizing and ordering, I was able to feed my family all organic fruits and vegetables, and they were fresh and delicious, we wasted nothing. YAY!!

We have obviously grown a bit, my living room is much cleaner than it used to be, but we haven’t changed. I still see this as a way to feed my family, and the families of friends, new and old, fresh organic produce that we can all afford. I think organic produce should be available to everyone. It is a basic human right in my mind, to be able to choose not to poison our bodies with chemicals.

So this is how it works:

I need to know how much produce to order each week. I learned the hard way, with a lot of waste, that I need to be guaranteed that the produce I order is going to be eaten. So I ask you to tell me ahead of time. Through trial and error we have found the best and most convenient way to do this is to just ‘sign up’ to get produce every week or every other week. It is a lot easier to let me know when you don’t want it, then every time you do.

I enter all of the produce we get each week into a spreadsheet, with the same mark up that we started with 10 years ago. I have found no reason to change that. As long as I can feed my family in exchange for my efforts, I’m a happy camper. Excel is my best friend on produce days. I enter the numbers and ‘she’ figures it all out for me. When you come to pick up your produce, I have a list for you of what is included in each share, all of the produce is laid out in order of the list and you pick out your produce and put it into your bag or box.

Aside from what you get in your share, I order a variety of more expensive or not as commonly liked fruits and vegetables and these are also available for purchase as extra added on to your share or you can trade items in your share for these.

It is really important to me that the food you take home is food you love.

We have a table full of extra produce available for you to exchange items from your share. As long as you spend at least your $50, so that I can pay the visa bill, I’m happy. Take food you love, please!

It works! Simple and delicious.

I think we have finally figured out how to get the freshest best quality organic produce in Sitka, aside from growing it ourselves. If you would like to join us, let me know and I will add you to the list.

organicinsitka@gmail.com
Facebook page: Everything Organic Sitka Alaska
Twitter: @reneeannpierce

I hope to see you soon!

~Renee :-)


Tags: Food & Grocery