Tried & kept
Our house rule: organic produce, and pick it yourself
Here is a house rule we stick to: fruits and vegetables are almost exclusively organic in our house.
The rule itself is easy to keep. Where it gets tricky is how the produce gets to us.
Shopping in person: no problems
Going to the grocery store and choosing our own organic produce works fine. We can see what we're getting, check ripeness, and skip anything that looks off.
Ordering for delivery: hit or miss
We order groceries for delivery from BJ's and Stop & Shop, and delivery is where organic produce lets us down. In our experience, about 1 order in 4 comes with something that's the right product but not fresh or ripe. A couple of examples we keep running into:
- Bananas. The picker almost always grabs the greenest organic bananas in the bin. Ours have gone from not ripe straight to bad without ever ripening in between.
- Onions. We've opened bags of organic onions with one fully rotten onion inside and had to throw out the whole bag.
None of this is a reason to give up on organic. It's a reason to think about who's choosing it.
Our verdict
Organic produce: tried and kept. If you want quality produce, go pick it out yourself.
If 3 out of 4 sounds like good enough odds for your family, delivery is still a fine option. Just know that the occasional green banana bunch or bad bag of onions comes with it.